A Rose by Any Other Name
by mjrahabim
Summary: Albert Wesker has returned from the dead on a mission of ultimate destruction....Chapter 29 posted! please R
1. In the Begining

The light faded in out as if she were part of some freakish TV show. Voices seemed close and then all at once far away. She was having a hard time distinguishing between what was real and what was part of her demonic dreams. Ozwell Spencer had once said everyone working at Umbrella had a demonic conscious. He had said that they deserved to. 

She heard a voice she recognized and strained to wake herself. The voice would tell her what was going on. "She…used…for experimental…" The words danced and faded as she struggled to grasp them. "Purposes…" That voice, the one that spoke with deep melodic tones was familiar. If only she could put a name with it. But she couldn't stay awake long enough to make the connection. She met with the darkness willingly and let it embrace her…

*************************************************************

The Tyrant, as the beast had jokingly come to be called, stood over eight feet tall with talons that ran the length of enormous legs. It was, at one time, at least partly human. Now it was merely a test subject, a rat in an analysis tube. And Albert Wesker was about to let it out. 

The fluid that had once held the monster in a chronic slumber began to drain away and the Tyrant's fingers began to twitch. The scream caught in her throat as she watched the extraordinary creature shatter the glass around itself with one sweeping motion of its arm. She couldn't control the monster under these circumstances and neither could anyone else. In an instant Wesker realized that the monster was coming toward him and ordered the creature to stop. His command was unheeded as the monster gored him with razor like claws. 

Wesker's knees buckled and he fell, blood streaming across the floor with savage force. This time she did scream… the sound gut wrenching and soul tearing. But the pitiful cry went unheard as Chris Redfield hoisted his shotgun and fired at the lumbering brute. 

Neither man nor the beast noticed her and they raced toward the exits, each hell bent on the other's death. Miranda crawled toward the growing tide of blood that had once belonged to Albert Wesker. Her voice was now dissipating to gasping sobs…

The darkness was ebbing. Miranda knew that only semi-consciousness would find her for the time being…

He was here. The voice that had intrigued her in her waking moments was here. She could feel his presence although she wasn't sure how. All at once he was leaning over her and through the blur she saw the image of a ghost. 

"Wesker," she whispered, but she was too tired to say more. The ghost said nothing in return. Instead he continued looking down at her, silent as the grave he had come from. Miranda convinced herself she was still unconscious. Otherwise how could this man be here? "Wesker." She whispered his name again. Finding those few words too much, she drifted back into her dreams…

When she reached Albert Wesker he was barely breathing. His chest was heaving painfully giving way to profuse gushes of blood. He lay still, pallor creeping over his handsome features. 

"Forgive me," she pleaded silently. Inwardly she scolded herself for not trying to help him. Why had she been so afraid of her own creation? 

"You're a fool, Harley. A fool." Wesker ground out the words through bloody teeth. "Get out." 

Miranda laid a hand to his forehead and brushed away a few stray strands of hair. "Wesker." She could say his name a thousand times and never say it enough. But now he was going to die and it was all her fault. 

"Get out!" He roared, choking on his own blood. Nevertheless, she stayed where she was, gently attempting to apply pressure to staggering injuries. She heard the helicopter outside and knew that one of the S.T.A.R.S members had defeated the Tyrant. And now as she looked down at the man lying on the bitter cold floor of the Research Lab, she was glad. It was retribution of sorts. Leaning down she kissed his forehead. He had stopped breathing. 

"Oh Wesker," she murmured, tears making their way down her cheeks and splashing at last on mouth that would never speak again. "I love you." 

The building above her shook and rumbled and she heard the creatures howling and shrieking in agony. The remaining members of the Alpha Team were going to destroy them all. She realized in an instant that there was nothing she could do. She laid herself over the body of Albert Wesker as the mansion that had once been her home crumbled around her… 

*************************************************************

Albert Wesker leaned against the far wall of the observation room and watched Miranda Harley behind shaded glasses. She'd been unconscious for days, rambling incoherently, and yet making perfect sense. She told of how the Tyrant, her life's work, had destroyed him. She talked of seeing ghosts and S.T.A.R.S. members. He frowned. He'd rather she found a new subject to mumble about. He'd rather not think about Chris and Jill if he could help it. His organization would be not be pleased if they knew that not only had the Tyrant been destroyed but that it's maker, an Umbrella Corporate, had not. His mission had ended in failure. He'd lost his humanity, and it was all the fault of those imbeciles.

Growling, he punched the wall and stormed out of the room. She made him think too much and that wasn't safe. For the time being, he'd have to devise something new to occupy his thoughts. 

The rest of the lab worked like ants around him. Since his arrival at the H.C.F. Corporation Headquarters they all had been analyzing his DNA trying to discover the reason he had survived such a horrendous attack. Who was he to tell them that in fact, he had not? Even now the top researchers were arguing over how he had even managed the push his way from beneath the mansion ruins and make his way to them. He seemed virtually unharmed, they claimed. What better way to prove to them that he had indeed injected himself with William Birkin's G-virus?

"Sir," a dark skinned young man in camouflage fatigues walked toward him, a thin white sheet of paper in hand. "A fax arrived from Umbrella Incorporated. Head Office thought you might be interested in this. Sir." Wesker adjusted his dark glasses and snatched the fax away. He scanned it briefly and chuckled underneath his breath. Then laughter burst forth, the sound unnatural and inane. All at once the lab stopped working the room filled with thick silence, all eyes trained on him. 

"I'm dead." He said, his voice a hint of amusement mixed with anger. The young man nodded, his legs shaking. Wesker found that he had a much better view of things than he used to. He could hear them better as well.

"We should just kill her. You know…pull the plug so to speak…She won't live that long anyway." Without knowing why, Wesker shot across the room and grabbed the man who'd been speaking by the collar, hiking him up into the air. Once again the room was silent as the fax paper was still fluttering to the floor. It should have been impossible for a man to cross the room so quickly. But never the less, the proof was in the paper.

"She lives because I say she lives. Any more from you and I'll be pulling your plug. Do you understand?" He gave the offending scientist a vicious shake. 

"Yes…sir…" the man answered his voice shaking. 

"Sir, the girl's stopped breathing." Another scientist who stood at near an immense set of monitors shouted. Without waiting to hear more, Wesker dropped the worm, and turned on heel. 

"She will not die!" He shouted "We need her for research!" He could tell himself and the rest of them that as long as he needed to. 

She could remember being picked up, her body feeling all at once weightless. She wondered if she were flying. The sensation was overwhelming and she let it be, giving in to it and letting herself go. 

It was all floating away from her. The crows, the dogs, the zombies…all of it. She couldn't even remember what the Tyrant looked like. But she could still see him. She knew every contour of his face, every detail that was Albert Wesker. She could see him as if he were standing over her right this very moment, shouting at her. 

She could scarcely make out the words. "Harley…fool…open…" She tried to comprehend but the words didn't make sense. The dream Albert had a hand rested on hers and she forced herself to squeeze it with all her might. At that, the dream Albert smiled briefly and nodded. He spoke again, but Miranda heard nothing…

*************************************************************

The room was sparsely lit. Candles illuminated a dark haired woman wrapped in a sheet stretching lithely across a bed. In the darkness beyond, a light haired man stood watching her, a slow smile crossing his thin lips. "You are truly beautiful, Harley."

"If I am so beautiful, why not stay with me?" the woman purred. They went through this every night it seemed. "I'm sure I can show you more than beauty." 

The man growled softly, still smiling. "I'm afraid that I have overstayed my welcome. I have many things to accomplish." 

"As always." The woman ran a hand through silky black locks of hair and stood, the sheet surrounding her like a surreal cloak. Her pale skin contrasted with her dark hair making her, as always, a creature of ethereal beauty. He held out his hand for hers. Timidly she gave it to him. 

"Harley, you test my patients," the man spoke softly, his voice not belying his anger. "You understood what this was from the very beginning. Don't try to make it something it's not." He kissed the knuckles of her hand and turned away, settling his sunglasses over dark blue eyes. 

"Wesker…" Miranda Harley had spent so much time trying not to make it something it wasn't. But there were circumstances that forced it to be more than it was. "We have to talk."

"I have no time for that." He snarled. "And neither should you." He marched from the room like a Nazi general and slammed the door. Miranda sank to the floor. Well, if Albert Wesker wasn't interested in what she needed to tell him, then she never would...


	2. Oh Death Where is Thy Sting?

The time went by slower than it used to. Nearly a month had passed, and it seemed as if Umbrella had been keeping quiet about everything. There were no new developments happening and it seemed as if Raccoon City had forgotten all about the incident at the Spencer Mansion. 

Wesker, however, knew better than to think to Umbrella was through with their research. He had feeling deep down that things were about to get a lot worse than the accident at the mansion. He was almost sure of it. William Birkin had continued with his own research and was near completion of a new strand to the original T-Virus. When he was finished, Umbrella would attempt to assassinate him for it. It wasn't like Umbrella to share the glory.

Sitting inside an observation tank waiting for his next command, Albert Wesker felt a tad out of control. The HCF scientists were testing him to see how far the limits of his new found "abilities" could be pushed. So far, they hadn't even scratched the surface. Even he was surprised by these feats. He could jump higher and run faster than anything on earth. He could see and hear things that would be impossible to the human race. In his own right, he was a god. 

But there were other things that needed his attention aside from his talents. Recently rumors had been circulating that Ozwell Spencer, the original owner of the mansion that Umbrella had used for their secret research, had experimented with the original T-virus on himself. If that were true, then the strain would still be present in his body, no matter how long he'd been dead. Wesker needed to find the body and extract the T-virus from it; then this new Organization could begin research on their own.

He also needed to do something with Miranda Harley. It had been almost month and she had shown no signs of getting better. If something didn't change soon he would be forced to kill her, a prospect that didn't seem like a very good idea. After all, with her being part of Umbrella, she'd make a perfect test subject for any virus that they managed to come up with. It would be simple and easy. Just like Lisa Trevor. 

Wesker decided that with everything that was on his mind he was through testing for the day. Striding to the door, he proceeded to rip it off its hinges. He laughed as the tiny man meekly informed him that he'd have to replace that. When would they learn about him? 

Miranda blinked back the tears as she struggled once again to wake herself. She didn't know why she was fighting so hard. Wesker was dead. She had nothing else to live for. How could she face Umbrella with the knowledge of what she'd done? They'd never understand why she hadn't done anything to save him. With her luck they'd probably kill her on the spot. What was it worth worrying about dying every time you went to work?

If only the Ashfords had minded their own business and stayed out of Biological experimentation. They would all be a lot better off. 

She continued to hear the deep melodic voice day after day and the more she heard it the more she was convinced she was going insane. The voice belonged to Albert Wesker, the man who shunned her and yet showed an avid interest in her. The man she'd spent late nights with only to be abandoned when he'd gotten what he wanted from her. The father of.... 

Her mind was a mucky swap in which she hadn't the talent to mire through. But she had to. She had to remember. For Wesker. For her. The world spun as it always did once again went black...

The Birkins stood in the doorway of the hospital room, their eyes filled with hope. Annette had talked of a baby for years, but neither her nor William was able to reproduce. She had tried everything within her power to adopt, but Umbrella wouldn't hear of it. Outside of giving birth to one, no one involved with Umbrella Inc. was allowed to have a child. Miranda watched them for a long moment hoping she was making the right decision. 

The tiny baby asleep in her arms sighed softly. She smoothed down locks of cotton blonde hair and smiled tearfully. Her heart was breaking. But the circumstances surrounding the child's birth were beyond her control. She could not afford to keep her daughter. Wesker had already been looking for her; she had precious little time before he found out the truth. 

She handed Annette the baby and choked back a sob. "Sherry." She whispered. "Her name is Sherry." 

Annette smiled down at the sleeping baby, her eyes twinkling. "Sherry Birkin." Inside a part of Miranda died. She knew that her daughter would never be known as Sherry Wesker; it was just too dangerous. She had no idea what would happen if Albert Wesker ever found out the truth...

She was mumbling in her sleep. At first she had been talking about Umbrella and death. But now she had moved on to other things. She was talking about Annette Birkin and her baby. Wesker had often heard rumors about the Birkin's child but it had never concerned him as much as it did right now. Especially when Miranda Harley mentioned the fact that she had given the Birkin's the baby. 

What was she talking about? Wesker cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. Miranda was still speaking, her voice harsh and cracking. "Her name is Sherry." She said, moaning. "I wasn't good enough for her either." 

Wesker laid a hand on her forehead. She was still burning up with fever. He hated to admit it, but they were right. He'd have to kill her eventually. Beside the fact that he wasn't even supposed to bring her out of the mansion with him, they had spent too much time trying to revive her. The Organization wouldn't tolerate it much longer. He wondered if they would force him to do the job. After all, being "inhuman" as he was, wouldn't it be simpler to have him rip her to shreds? The thought was not as altogether appealing as the one he'd often had about tearing Chris Redfield to pieces and feeding his remains to a few zombies. 

Her knowledge of Sherry Birkin had to be investigated however. She could know something that would break the Birkin case wide open, not to mention that the very knowledge could help him in his personal pursuits. 

Harley, like most Umbrella Corporates, was a deep well of secrets just waiting to be dipped into. He'd been trying to attain those very secrets for years to little avail. 

Nearly nine years ago, just when he was about to persuade her to tell him the covert details of the Tyrant's DNA strand, she disappeared for almost six months. When she returned she was distant and aloof, forcing him to start from the very beginning. 

Miranda moaned again. Wesker bent over her silent form as he'd done a thousand times throughout the weeks. But this time, without even realizing it, he let his lips brush hers. 

Miranda's darkness disappeared in a flash of electricity. Her entire body was suddenly alive and on fire. She fought for breath. The immense power surrounded her and flowed through her like a swift-moving stream. But this power was evil, laden with the presence of something she could not explain. She forced her eyes opened and screamed, attempting to expel the malevolent energy building up inside of her. It did not belong there. 

The room her eyes opened to was brightly lit, almost too much so. It was sparsely furnished with a bed, a chair, and three beeping machines. She had no idea where she was or what she was doing there. Another glance around the room and her eyes rested on a tall blonde haired man standing in the doorway, eyes covered with dark glasses. She realized who he was even before she'd finished her scrutiny. 

"Wesker." She whispered softly, the words almost painful. His ghost had come to haunt her. "Oh Wesker." The tears filled her eyes making them burn. Even his ghost would not forgive her. He was here to haunt her for the rest of her life, however long she had left. She decided that it would be best to apologize now so he would know that she was well aware of her mistakes. Her chest was heaving as the tears continued to fall, but she could not force herself to speak the words that would damn her. 

"Harley," Wesker's voice was no different as a ghost than it had been when he was alive. "What in the devil is wrong with you?" He took off his sunglasses and rubbed his temples. For a moment Miranda was lost…until he looked up at her. She gazed into his eyes they way she'd done a thousand times before, but this time she saw that they were no longer the same. His eyes were evil, the mirror into his soul. 

At last Miranda concluded that she was still dreaming. She'd never believed in ghosts; her conscious mind would not allow her to. Therefore her conscious mind wouldn't oppose her resolve to tell Wesker the truth. 

Her scream had shocked him. Startled he'd stepped away from her and watched in amazement as she sat up and those beautiful sea green eyes flew open. But he couldn't figure out exactly what had woken her up. 

When she saw him, her eyes lingering on him as if he were part of some terrible nightmare, he felt an unexpected chill creep up his spine. She'd never looked at him that way before. Her tears had shocked him as well. But what had really thrown him off balance was the way she had spoken his name. He hadn't expected that to affect him. Displays of emotion such as hers had never had any influence on him before. 

"I…am…so…sorry." She was gasping, her words halting as she tried to breathe. "I should have stopped the Tyrant. He was mine…my creation…I could have..." Wesker stared at her, eyes narrowed. It wasn't like Miranda Harley to cry. And it wasn't like him to care. "I let you die. I failed you. I've failed everyone haven't I? Even her." Her words jumbled together, but like always, she made perfect sense to him. 

"Her…?" He coaxed. He was curious to find out more about this mysterious "her" that Miranda kept referring to. 

"Sherry! Your daughter Sherry!" She shouted bursting into fresh tears. "She'll never know truth and neither will you." So. Now he knew did indeed know the truth. Sherry Birkin was not a Birkin after all, but a Wesker. His daughter. Now all he had to do was find out why Miranda had given her to Annette Birkin. "What happens now?" Miranda choked out. "Will I kill her like I killed her father? What sort of monster will I let loose to rip her to shreds?" 

Miranda couldn't control herself. She was overcome with a grief she'd never known before. "I love you." The words were heavy with their own significance. A new wave of tears rushed over her. Wesker moved forward and sat on the bed beside her, his hand reaching behind her head and pulling her to meet his lips.

The kiss was unlike anything she'd ever experienced with him. Electric energy sparked between them, filling the room with its charge. But even the immense power that shot through her body could not stop her. Even if he was merely a ghost, she needed him. 

Just when she'd thought the sensations surging through her could not get anymore intense; Albert Wesker plunged his tongue into her mouth. To her surprise she moaned loudly, and threw her arms around his neck pressing herself against his powerful chest. He growled inwardly and put his arms around her. She couldn't do anything to fight the feelings bursting from the inner recesses of her soul. He'd never kissed her like this. 

But even as the sensation was pleasurable, it was also painful and dangerous. She could feel the evil beginning to raise its ugly head within her. It wasn't natural to feel this way. Something was treacherously wrong with this whole occurrence. 

Suddenly, Wesker withdrew from the bed and stood up. He stared down at her, his face expressionless before returning his dark glasses to their normal position. Miranda gazed at him for a moment then realized that nothing about him was the same. However, right now her heart and mind were too full to think about it.

"Well…" She said, wiping the last of her tears away. "For a dead guy you certainly know how to kiss." Wesker's laughter echoed around her as she lay down and closed her eyes. When she did wake up she'd figure out what had happened just now. 

"Its like some power within you transferred to her." Riley answered. "I've never seen anything like it. Totally amazing." Wesker stared hard at the little animated scientist. "Maybe we should send you around to all the hospitals and have you kiss everyone in a coma." 

"It was not a kiss." Wesker said aloud, frowning. 

"All right. Well, lean over and check their breathing then. How's that?" Riley sat down across from him and settled a clipboard in his lap. 

"You are not writing anything I just told you on there. Am I understood?" Wesker growled. 

"Oh sure thing. I doubt Corporate would believe me anyway. They do claim I have a tendency to exaggerate." Riley Davis was a short young man with a head full of brown hair and glasses that never quite sat right on his face. "Oh by the way, I found the information you were looking for about Ozwell E. Spencer."

"Did you?" Wesker said, darkly. He'd asked Riley to find out everything he could about the man who had financed the design of Umbrella's secret Bio lab in the United States. He'd also asked him to find out the truth behind the rumors.

"It seems that Spencer was originally born in France. He went to Boarding school with Alexander Ashford. Their fathers had started research on a bio-chemical known now as the T-virus. Alexander and Ozwell stabilized it." Riley took a moment to push up his glasses and flip through his notes. "But, when Alexander's daughter Alexia was ten she had already graduated from an Ivy League College and was quote-unquote hired by Umbrella as a Head Researcher." 

"Ten? Doesn't that seem a little young, Riley?" Wesker was still frowning. 

"That's what I said." He jumped out of the chair, papers fluttering around him. "How smart can a ten year old be? Heck, when I was ten I was picking my nose and wiping it on the desk in front of me."

Wesker smiled thinly. "Anything more?" 

"You bet your super human legs there's more!" Riley shouted. Wesker found that he was constantly amused with the boy. Ever since Rile Davis had been assigned to study him, things were not as dull as they had once been. "It seems that during Alexia's interim there, an experiment went wrong and her father died leaving Spencer to run the company on his own. But then a few months after that, Alexia also perished in a freak accident."

Wesker scowled. There had been too many freak accidents as of late. He didn't like the sound of it. "And what of Spencer? What happened to him?" 

"Umbrella happened to him. You should appreciate that." Riley kneeled and began gathering papers. "He suddenly got a conscious see…and he realized that these bio-experiments on humans were morally wrong. _What a nut_. So Umbrella assassinated him. Much like you say they plan to do to William Birkin."

"And what of his grave?" Wesker cracked his knuckles. 

"It's funny. If he didn't believe in human experimentation, why did he do it on himself?" Setting the papers neatly in the chair, Riley adjusted his lab coat. 

"Well?" Wesker had always been impatient, even the G-virus hadn't changed that.

"That's the bad part. Supposedly, it was in the mansion." Riley scratched the crown of his head and sniffed loudly. 

"Why in the bloody hell didn't you tell me this earlier?" Wesker shot out of the metal chair and threw it; it's legs embedding into a monitor on the far end of the room. The monitor exploded on impact. "Do you really expect me to dig through all that to find it?" 

"I…ah…no…" Riley gawked in bewilderment. "Jeez, Wesker. This room's the size of a freakin' football field. That's a gigantic break through!" 

"If you don't find out where Oswell Spencer is buried, I'll have another gigantic breakthrough in store for you!" Wesker shouted. He shoved Riley to the floor forcefully and stormed out of the Laboratory.

"Somebody needs a nap." Riley mumbled dejectedly. 


	3. Grave Where is Thy Victory?

Miranda woke up slowly. This time there was no Wesker, so this time she knew she was waking up for real. The feeling saddened her, and yet she knew that she had to go on. Umbrella had to know the truth about what she'd done. 

But, the only thing on her mind right then was brushing her teeth and taking shower. Her mouth was dry and she felt disgusting. A few careful steps down a cold metallic hallway and she found a bathroom where a fresh toothbrush and terrycloth robe laid carefully on the edge of the sink. 

After she'd scrubbed her teeth, more thoroughly than she'd ever done in her entire life, she stepped into the shower. The water was warm and inviting, much like Albert Wesker's kiss had been in her dream. It was too bad that it had only been a dream. That kiss was fantastic. Too bad she would never get a chance to have another. Wesker was gone and she would never love anyone else.

What had made her pick him? She'd always heard that good girls fall in love with bad guys and Albert was bad. He'd spent nearly nine years using her and ignoring her, unless he wanted something from her. And yet, she still loved him. He was the father of her child and the man who occupied her every waking thought and now her dreams. 

She closed her eyes and whispered his name, feeling the water flow over her body caressing her with its warm touch. Leaning back she tipped her head under the showerhead and ran her fingers through her hair. 

All it once a new sensation swept over her. Fingers touching her hips, sliding up her body. Her head shot out of the rushing water and she opened her eyes, preparing to scream, but Albert Wesker put a finger to her lips and smiled darkly. 

Miranda's mind was reeling. She knew for certain that she was awake, so that meant… "Wesker!" She cried. "Oh god, Wesker, you're alive!" Tears sprang up in her eyes, but Wesker's hand moving up her spine collapsed her composure. She leaned against him, crying into his chest. "I'm sorry." He said nothing in return, even when Miranda looked up at him. His expression remained unchanged.

He was standing here in front of her, alive and shirtless. He was as handsome as he'd always been, but now there was something more to him. He seemed almost mystical, an unearthly creature sent to ravish the very soul from her body. Looking down she realized that she was far more indecent than he was. Just as she reached for towel, Wesker caught her arm. "You are truly beautiful, Harley." He whispered, his lips meeting hers in a passionate kiss. The same electricity from her dream swelled around her and she welcomed it, ignoring the evil that came with it like a dismal thundercloud. 

She clung to him as if he were the only thing holding her to the earth. Wesker put his arms around her, deepening the kiss and she threaded her fingers through his hair. She could taste his need for her. The water rushed around them as they embraced the world disappearing except for the two of them. 

Much later a lifetime it seemed Albert Wesker, alive and well, carried her to a dark room and laid her on the bed. "I'm not finished with you yet." His feral smile caught her off guard. He'd never said anything like that before. 

"Where are we?" She asked quietly, afraid that even her words would break their spell of passion. 

"This is my quarters. I thought this might be a little more private than your room." He sat down beside her and captured her lips. She prayed that whatever possessed Wesker to take her as he had, would continue to do so. 

And yet she was tired. For some reason, she had little stamina left. It was as if Wesker himself were draining her energy. However, she would not tell him to stop not in a million lifetimes. She needed him as she'd never needed him before. 

He ran his fingers through her hair and she moaned. "Albert," she said lovingly. "I…" 

"Shh…" He put a finger to her lips and leaned down to kiss the valley between her breasts. Laying a hand on her thigh, he smiled. Then, leaning upward he kissed her again parting her lips with his tongue. There had never been many nights between them as passionate as this.

Dawn found Albert Wesker sitting quietly in a chair across from the bed where Miranda still slept. He had been thinking all night, his mind a jumble of ideas and plans. He figured that somewhere along the way Miranda would be more useful to him as an accomplice than a test subject. After all, for nine years she'd lived in the Spencer Mansion. Perhaps she might know what secrets lay buried somewhere in that house. If she did his new Organization would surely be grateful to him for saving her life. 

Miranda sighed in her sleep and Wesker felt a sinister smile creep over his features. There were plenty of good reasons for keeping her alive. 

He stood and stretched, popping his shoulders as he did so. Once upon a time, such a move would have sent waves of excruciating pain throughout his body but now it had no affect on him what so ever. He guessed it was another benefit of being inhuman… along with last's nights little liaison...

"Hey, Wesker…Ah…I didn't see anything…I swear…Oh jeez…" Riley poked his head around the door and his face turned red. 

"What?" Wesker barked, trying to keep his voice quiet. 

"We need to talk. It's about…" Miranda rolled over, the sheet sliding down her body and moaned "Ah…" Wesker reached out and pulled the sheet back over her, sending Riley a warning glance. 

Riley put his hands over his eyes, "Hear no evil. See no evil; can't honestly say I won't say anything though." 

"Get out." Wesker snarled. "I'll meet you in the laboratory." As soon as the door closed, Wesker ran a finger gently across Miranda's cheek. There was so much history between them he wasn't sure where and when she'd first come into his life. 

Picking up his black shirt from the top of his dresser, he frowned. Miranda had never given him enough credit. She didn't know the first thing about him. She never trusted him. Then again, he'd never given her reason to. Pulling his boots on, he exited the room without looking back. 

Miranda opened her eyes to the blinding sun and yawned. She was still exhausted from the night before. Nevertheless she felt good. She felt more alive than ever before. Happily, she stretched and swung her feet off the side of Wesker's enormous bed. 

Her Albert Wesker had survived. He was all right. She was bursting with joy and it made her feel giddy. She giggled in spite of herself. 

On the edge of a chair there were a pair of jeans and a big gray sweatshirt with the letters H. C. F. printed across the front. She had no earthly idea what that stood for and wasn't sure she wanted to know. Almost hidden beneath the clothes was a single red rose. Surprised Miranda picked it up and held it to her nose. 

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Wesker quoted "Shakespeare, I believe." She slid the sweater over her head and nodded. 

"Wesker," she said quietly, suddenly shy. "I'm so glad you're alive. I thought you were dead. I thought we both were. We have to get back to Umbrella Headquarters and let them know what happened. They'll be glad to know you're alive." 

"You think so, Harley?" Wesker adjusted his sunglasses, for some reason he didn't seem as welcoming as he had mere moments ago. "You really think Umbrella cares what happened to us?"

She nodded again. "Of course they do."

"Oh?" Wesker hiked an eyebrow, his voice harsh. "We are dead, Harley. And you are a fool."

"Dead?" Miranda asked unbelievingly. "That's not true. We're not dead."

Wesker said nothing in response; instead he reached into his vest pocket and handed her a crumpled but neatly folded piece of paper. In stunned silence Miranda read the notice. 

__

To Umbrella Inc. and All Affiliates: 

It is our sad duty to report the distressing events that transpired in the Spencer Mansion have ended with the tragic loss of many lives. Our Arklay Mountain bio-chemical research team as well as many others including Albert Wesker who headed up the special Unit of S.T.A.R.S. and Miranda Harley of our Corporate Team were among the casualties. 

Due to this unfortunate loss the Head Office has ordered that all remaining research facilities including Umbrella Europe, Rockfort Island, Sheena Island, the Raccoon City Pharmaceutical and Chemical Plant, and our military base in Antarctica continue to be on high alert until further notice.

It has also come to our attention that the "Harley" Tyrant DNA has been lost due to Albert Wesker's failure to collect the combat data and Miranda Harley's failure to follow orders to have a back-up copy of the DNA stored in a safe place. 

This being said; please be advised that all traitors to Umbrella will not be tolerated and will be executed upon discovery. 

On another note, the remaining S.T.A.R.S members must not be allowed to survive. Illuminate them immediately using any means necessary. 

Your loyal Corporate Office Staff,

Umbrella Inc.

Miranda continued to stare at the condemnatory fax for several minutes before handing it back to Wesker with a shaking hand. Wesker folded it and returned to his vest pocket. "Now do you believe me?"

She said nothing, her insides quivering. Umbrella had betrayed them. For personal glory, the Umbrella Corporation had ruined the names of people who had once been their heroes. They had slandered the dead…or at least supposedly dead. "What now?"

"You help me, Harley. Help me make Umbrella pay for their insolence." She stared into his dark glasses, wishing that at least once he would take them off and look at her. She hadn't thought to look to look into his eyes last night.

"I don't know, Wesker. I can't give you an answer just yet." Her response didn't seem to please him, but he nodded curtly. How could she be disloyal to a company she'd worked for almost twelve years? Her father had worked for Umbrella all his life. How could she turn her back on that? 

Without realizing it, Wesker was watching her intently. "Finish getting dressed." He said calmly. "I have many things to accomplish…"

Miranda interrupted him. "Let me guess, you're leaving me again. Well don't let the door hit you in the…" Wesker interrupted her in turn by planting a kiss firmly on her lips. 

After a lingering moment, he looked down at her. "I thought you might want to come with me." Surprised again, Miranda nodded. She was speechless. Under Wesker's watchful eye she finished dressing and followed him out the door. 

Marcus Baker sat in a cold metal chair and waited to be called into the Head Office. He'd been interrupted during a very important experiment with a message from that snotty Riley Davis. Davis who thought he was better than the rest of them because he was in charge of the Wesker study. 

In truth, Marcus hoped that it had nothing to do with Albert Wesker. He'd already caught a lot of flack around the lab for what had happened a few weeks ago. He didn't need Corporate on his tail about it too. 

Why was he getting the heat for it anyway? He hadn't done anything wrong. He'd merely told one of his co-workers his opinion. It was a bad idea then and it was a bad idea now to keep her alive. She was Umbrella; there was no telling what she was capable of…and the rest of them thought that Wesker monster was bad. 

He hated that Wesker thing. Everyone made such a big deal about of him. He was dead for god sake. What was so damn interesting about a dead guy? Nobody had made that big a deal about the zombie he'd created six months ago. That smart-mouthed Riley had the nerve to say that Umbrella was still leading in the T-virus research. 

The immense wooden door in front of him opened and a fat balding man stepped out. "They will see you now." Deep down, Marcus was excited about seeing the inside of the Head Office. Very few people had ever been in there, save Wesker and that infernal Riley Davis. He stood and followed the fat man. 

The office was dark, almost as if he were in some sort of movie. Three people, their faces and attributes unrecognizable in the darkness sat around a sprawling table. The one at the head of the table stood. 

"Sit down, Marcus." They were going to chastise him and then have him killed, he was sure of it. He did as he was told. "We understand you had some sort of altercation with Albert Wesker a few weeks ago." The deep male voice said. He nodded even though he thought they couldn't see him. "We know what you said and we are indifferent to the subject that has caused so much controversy as of late. But we want you to forget about it. The sooner you do, the better your research will be." He nodded again.

"But for now, we'd like you to use that anger against Mr. Wesker." This time it was a female voice. "We'd like you to test his anger levels." 

"You must be joking." Marcus shot out. "No way." 

"Mr. Baker," another male voice chimed in. "This could be a great opportunity for you. Successful test results for you could mean advancement in other studies." 

"I see…" Marcus was always looking for ways to advance, and if this meant becoming Riley's supervisor then he was more than willing to try it. 

"The possibilities are endless, Mr. Baker." The woman said softly. 

"I understand that. But…what if Wesker goes totally out of control. I wonder if you all have seen what he's capable of."

"We are well aware of Mr. Wesker's abilities Mr. Baker." One of the men said bluntly. "And we have a solution. A simple solution." 

"And that would be?" Marcus snorted. 

"A gun, Mr. Baker. A .357 Magnum to be exact. If Mr. Wesker should lose control, you are authorized to use any means necessary to bring him down…" 

"No, man. It's like this. You hit the remote and…" Riley punched at the remote with his index finger. After several moments nothing happened. Wesker laughed sharply. "You try it then!" Wesker took the remote and suddenly smashed it on the table in front of him, a smile spreading across his features. "You're not just mean, you're the devil himself." Riley threw his notes in the air in exaggerated gusto. "The Hunters are a very delicate specie of bio-monster, Wesker. Jeez…There's not going to be very many options of controlling them." 

"I'm sure you'll think of something." Wesker said dryly. "I need them operational by the first mission, Riley. I will not risk letting a single one of the surviving S.T.A.R.S. members escape. Every window of opportunity is invaluable." 

" I can certainly understand that, Wesker, but these things are a ticking time bomb just waiting to…" Riley sighed at Wesker who was staring at the door. "You aren't even listening are you?" Wesker looked toward him, his red eyes flashing. Startled, Riley fell back ward out of his chair. "I hate it when you do that." He mumbled, standing slowly and brushing off his pant legs. "Relax, she just went to the bathroom. You know how women are." 

"That does not concern me." Wesker shot back. 

"Oh sure. You're just afraid she'll get lost in the lab's only hallway." Riley nodded. He opened his mouth to say more, but was cut short by the entrance of Baxter Ferguson the Head office secretary. 

"Gentlemen, I have a message for you." He waited for the two men to acknowledge his continuance. "The Head Office wishes for Albert Wesker to test some more of his new found skills in the Observation room. You must be present immediately." With that, the exceptionally large man left the room and Riley stole a glance at Wesker who was grinning inanely. 

"What fun." He said through gritted teeth. 

Miranda was lost. The huge hallway was full of doors that lead into other side labs and animal cages. Just now she was standing in front of a large glass window trying desperately to see inside. If curiosity killed the cat then she was in a lot of trouble. She was leaning closer to the window and squinting, trying to see through the darkness when a monster hit the glass. Her scream erupted before she could stop herself. The zombie beat on the pane and moaned forlornly.

The door burst open behind her and Wesker grabbed her arm. No more than a split second had passed. 

"We have more important things to do than to play with the animals, Harley." Wesker barked. He led her to another large room with a window in it. She was reluctant to go near it. She'd had enough excitement for one day. "Stay here." Wesker instructed. Riley stood next to her and patted her arm. 

"Not to worry, sweetie. This is the fun part." Wesker turned suddenly, his eyes on Riley. Although Miranda did not understand, Riley nodded. "Safe and sound Wesker. Safe and sound." Wesker nodded back and entered the room on the other side of the glass. "Oh no…" Riley choked out. He was looking into the glass. Miranda followed his eyes but couldn't see what he was worried about. All she saw was a tall young man with brown hair and a smug smile.

"Albert Wesker, the big scary monster man." Wesker recognized this man as the one he'd threatened a few weeks ago. He was not happy with this turn of events at all. He chose not to respond. "Oh come on, what's wrong? Dumbfounded? Surely not you…the articulate one." Wesker sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. His assumed an uninterested stance. 

"You know…" the scientist said with a frown, "It's too bad the S.T.A.R.S. got away. I guess you weren't man enough to stop them." Wesker lifted an eyebrow and scowled. "You're such a man, you had to have a woman save you." 

"You know." Wesker answered softly. "I'm quite bored with this whole conversation." 

"Like you're bored with her?" the question hit home. Wesker titled his sunglasses and glared at Marcus. For a fleeting moment Marcus was afraid, then he remembered the gun hidden in his pocket. He'd always wanted to fire a gun. 

"Why are they just standing there? What's he saying?" The questions were popping up in murmurs around the room. Miranda stared at Wesker, the feeling of uneasiness sliding over her like a snake. He was standing with his leg spread apart and his arms crossed. Something was definitely wrong. 

"Riley…"She said suddenly. Riley turned toward her a troubled look on his face. 

"He's all right…M…He's…" but before he could finish, Wesker exploded. 

The blood splattered against the glass in a sickening thud. Wesker withdrew his fist and kicked the scientist under the chin sending him flying. In the blink of an eye Wesker was on him again slamming his head into the floor. The scientist clawed at his arms and screamed, choking on his own blood. He reached up and grabbed at Wesker's face managing the pull the sunglasses from his eyes. Wesker let go of him for a moment and snarled, the bloodlust clouding his thoughts as he turned away. 

"When do I get my turn with her, Wesker?" Behind him Marcus stood and wiped his nose. Wesker whirled around, his eyes flashing red. "You're nothing but a monster anyway, she needs a real man to keep her happy." Marcus pulled out his gun, but was not quick enough to stop him…

Miranda pushed her way through the growing crowd just in time to see Wesker's body twist in a violent kick that took the brown haired man to the ground. Some sort of gun slid away from him. Evil radiated through the room and angled its way toward her. Wesker was heading out of control and there was nothing she could do to stop it. 

Wesker picked up the man with one hand and tossed him across the vast space inside the Observation room. Gasps sounded all around her. Wesker leapt into the air and slammed another fist against the side of the scientist's face.

"Wesker!" Miranda screamed pounding her fists against the glass. "Stop it!" The brown haired man stumbled to his feet and ran for the gun. But Wesker caught him and threw him against the pane, jagged cracks appearing everywhere. Picking him up again Wesker slammed his face against the cracks, blood splattering in savage waves of red. Wesker didn't even seem to notice the drops of blood on his own face. The scientist's eyes rolled back in his head. 

"Wesker! You're killing him! Stop it!" Miranda pleaded, her voice draining away as she screamed. "Wesker!" 

The cationic waves of pure anger were arcing through him like an electric current. He could see nothing but the blood that was seeping down the walls and the glass pane in front of him. Nothing mattered to him save the death of this man lying at his feet. In between flashes of red he saw Chris Redfield, a man whose death would bring him ultimate satisfaction. Revenge was the sweetest taste there ever was. Chris had cost him his humanity and now Wesker would cost Chris his very soul. 

His world was going hazy with the mask of red death, until…Her voice broke through the waves of blood. It didn't sound right. The way she was screaming his name sounded urgent. Blinking, he stared through the glass at Miranda Harley who was now sobbing breathlessly, her head and hands were lying against the pane. 

Suddenly, Wesker discovered that he was very tired. Without another thought, he walked away from the unconscious form and toward the door, once again ripping it from its hinges.

Miranda sank to her knees as Wesker walked away, finding it hard to breathe. Riley stood beside her silently. She'd seen into his eyes and what she saw frightened her. His eyes were no longer the brilliant blue they once were. His eyes were now a strange yellow infringed with a violent red. His pupils were narrow like those of a snake. The only time she ever seen eyes like that were on the snake they had been testing on before the accident at the mansion. 

"Riley," she said at last barely able to force out a whisper. "What have they done to him?"


	4. Marcus Baker, Thy Name is Prey

The metal door flew over their heads and across the room. Wesker stormed past them. His eyes were burned a fierce crimson. He had to go somewhere and collect his thoughts. If not, there was no telling what he was capable of. Once upon a time when he needed to be alone, he'd stood outside and smoked a cigarette. But now, because of the risk involved, Wesker wasn't allowed outside. Instead, he headed for the in-door hot house where the Organization was growing their bio-chemical plants. Pushing open the door a wave of hot muggy air hit him. 

This was where he'd gotten the rose for Miranda. He'd been here numerous times before. Riley claimed that it was because the devil had to have his heat. After his violent display a few moments ago, Wesker was beginning to wonder if he were not the prince of darkness that they claimed him to be. 

Sitting down next to the rosebush, Wesker reached up and snatched a rose, a thorn ripping a gash along his palm. Bloody thoughts swept over him. He couldn't believe what he had done. A few sharp words from that smart mouthed young man and he had lost control. He'd never reacted that way before. Sure he'd lost his temper, he had been famous for exploding at the S.T.A.R.S. members for all sorts of reasons.

His fingers shaking in anger he began tearing the delicate petals to pieces. It wasn't so bad that he had lost his restrain, but it _was_ bad that he had done it in front of Miranda. Her screams still rang in his ears. He could see himself continually attacking that young man, his vital fluids flying in every direction, splattering against the walls. He was definitely not the same. His blood lust was uncanny. The G-virus had totally changed him. Still, his murderous performance had been played out before Miranda's eyes. He could see her with her head and hands laid against the glass, tears streaming down her cheeks. He'd never meant for her to see that side of him. He hadn't wanted the mother of his child to know what type of monster he really was. 

He was indeed a monster. There was no more denying it. Gazing down at the torn petals, Wesker saw what the moist air had done to them. The color was running along the floor. It reminded him of the young man's blood. " A rose by any other name…" He snorted with laughter. "Is Marcus Baker…" The wave of laughter broke over him and he had no control over it. Throwing his head back he let it out and laughed depravedly. All at once, he could feel Marcus Baker's life force slipping away from his body. The laughter pushed its way out and got louder. Suddenly the laughter subsided, giving way to the primal howl of an agonized soul.

Riley ran into the room and kneeled over Marcus Baker who was coughing on his own blood. The room was silent as other researchers joined him, preparing to move Marcus to another observation room where he could be treated. Marcus held his eyes closed and groaned. 

Miranda stood in the doorway watching for a moment before sorrow overcame her. She could not stay and watch to see what would become of Marcus. Turning she ran from the room. She had to find Albert Wesker. 

Riley was yanking off his lab coat to lie across the chest of Marcus when the laughter began. It was eerie and evil. The entire room paused to listen. Without a doubt they all knew whom the laughter belonged to. 

Marcus gasped for air. Just as suddenly as the laughter had begun, it was followed by a sound the likes of which Riley had never heard. It was a long wailing cry so terrifying the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He turned back to check on Marcus just as the young man's eyes flew open. 

The last thing Marcus Baker ever saw was the concerned face of a man he'd hated in life. The last thing he ever heard was the howling of an agonized soul. Mr. Baker wondered briefly if he had been easy prey for that monster before he thought no more… 

Miranda entered the hot house just as Wesker's howl subsided. Quietly, she made her way towards him and knelt next to him. Wesker stared at her in silence for a long moment. Why was she here? He hadn't expected her to be. He wondered if she too would condemn him for what he'd done. 

Gently, Miranda reached out and touched the side of his face. "A rose by any other name…" She was looking directly into eyes that were a mirror to a dark soul and saw the suffering deep within. She wished there were some way to convey to him that she understood.


	5. Pookie and the Common Goal

Outside the head office Riley Davis sat waiting for Albert Wesker to emerge. He'd been out there half the morning and planned to wait all day if he had to. The Ladies and Gentleman of the H.C.F. Organization were undoubtedly reprimanding Wesker for the events that took place a mere week ago.

Riley sat back and sighed loudly. The week had gone by in such a blur he barley remembered it. It had somehow ended up a silent agreement from the three of them that nothing would be said about the death of Marcus Baker. Nothing had been.

He and Wesker had discussed the possibilities of finding the grave of Ozwell Spencer and digging it up. However, he hadn't been able to come across its exact location. All he knew was that he was supposed to be buried under a head stone that read "George Trevor." From what he gathered however, George Trevor was the man who had originally designed the lavish house with all of its secret rooms and hallways. Moreover, the farther he dug into the history and design of the mansion, the more he found out about its financier's dark and murky past. It also seemed that the mysterious Oswell Spencer might have had a child. 

Miranda Harley was a mystery all her own. He'd spent a good part of the week trying to make her laugh, which turned out to be about as easy as it was to make Wesker laugh. What had happened between the two of them? Aside from being nosy, Riley was a history nut. He liked to find out why things turned out the way they did. Digging into the pasts of people like those two was a dream come true.

He did have fun scaring Miranda with the zombie that was contained in a side lab. He had discovered that she was deathly afraid of the T-virus monsters and that fact made Albert Wesker furious. 

His mind was clicking with a new way to play a prank on Miranda when the Office door swung open and Wesker strode out into the hallway. 

"So?" Riley stood quickly and followed an already disappearing Wesker. 

"So?" Wesker repeated. 

"What did they say? I'm dying here." 

Wesker stopped in mid-stride and turned to stare at him. "They have given us clearance to create the bio-monsters I have supplied DNA for and they have given us a month of grace to search for the Spencer grave." 

"All right! We bad…we bad…" Riley commenced to doing a strange dance while Wesker watched with titled glasses. "Jeez…Wesker. Don't look at me like that. Besides, I'm not the only one that ever did a dance of celebration. Ever watch the Super Bowl?"

"No, I'm afraid I have not. And by the looks of things, it doesn't seem like I've missed much." Wesker retorted. 

"Just great commercials…the beer…the babes." Riley waved his hands in the air. "You haven't lived until you've been to one of my Super Bowl parties." 

"Well, I'm not alive anyway. So I assume..."

"You assume too much." Riley interrupted, "Lighten up Wesker. Jeez…what a grouch." Riley mumbled. "Maybe we should call Miranda and…" Before he could finish his sentence Wesker had grabbed him under the chin and hauled him into the air. 

"Whatever you were about to say, forget it. Leave Harley out of our conversations unless she is present." He growled through gritted teeth. 

"Oww…Jeez…Owww." Riley muttered. 

"Wesker." Her voice was so soft and calm. Without another word, Wesker let go and turned toward her, his anger subsiding. 

Miranda was afraid of Wesker. She was afraid to get too close to him for fear that he would turn on her. He'd acted a little different toward her as of late and she found herself wondering why. Every morning she found a single red rose on her nightstand. What exactly was he up to?

Wesker took her hand and kissed the knuckles, Riley mock gagging in the background. "You and I have to talk." He said in a low voice. For a fleeting moment Miranda started to tell him that they both had better things to do, but the way he was looking at her changed her mind. All she managed was a nod. "Riley, get started on your Hunter project. I want them operational in two days. I don't want to the risk of running into any unexpected guests." Riley nodded and turned away, heading for the lab where he'd been working on the Hunter DNA for months. 

The plant room was Miranda's favorite place to go. She'd been sneaking off a lot during the past week to sit beside the rose bushes and think. They hadn't been together in this room since that horrible day. 

Wesker took her arm and gently turned her to face him. Before she could say a word, his lowered his lips to hers in a passionate kiss. When she had lost her breath he let her go, running his fingers through her hair and watching it fall in waves down her back. 

Reaching over, Wesker pulled one if the roses out of the bush and twirled it in between his fingers. "Harley…" He was trying to think of an exact way to pry out of her what he wanted to know. At last he decided it would be best to simply ask her. "Do you know who Ozwell Spencer was?" 

Miranda eyed him suspiciously. Why would he want to know something like that? She knew that Spencer had once tested different forms of the T-Virus on himself. Could Wesker be interested in finding out the truth? She nodded, but said nothing. 

"I need to find his body. His remains may be the key to unlocking the G-virus code." So that was why. Leave it to Wesker. He didn't even have respect for the dead if it meant he could profit from it. "Do you know where we could uncover it?" His face was expressionless, his eyes a dark image of her reflection in his sunglasses. 

"I'll only tell you if you promise to let me help. I want to come with you." As she spoke these words, Umbrella's condemning fax appeared in her mind, "Miranda Harley's failure to follow orders and have a back-up copy of the DNA stored in a safe place". 

"I've already asked you to, Harley." Wesker said calmly, his voice deep and melodic as usual. Inside she shivered. 

"Well it's settled then." She answered with a grin. Handing her the rose, Wesker raised an eyebrow in expectation. "Spencer is buried…" Before she could finish, Riley burst into the room. 

"Oh Jeez…oh Jeez…" Breathing heavily he stumbled toward them. Wesker turned to him, an unhappy look spreading over his face like wildfire.

"What?" He growled.

"It's Fruit Loop. He's out of his cage." Riley panted.

"Fruit Loop?" Wesker and Miranda chorused. 

"Fruit Loop is one of the Hunters I've been working with. He tore out his cage when I had my back turned. I don't know where he's at." Riley swallowed hard. He knew Wesker wasn't going to be happy. 

"What?" Wesker shouted. Under his breath Riley began counting. "What's wrong with you?" 

"Ten…" Riley muttered. Back stiff, Wesker grabbed Riley around the throat. "Say goodbye to your precious "Fruit Loop". I'll have to kill him before he does any damage around here." 

"But…" Riley gagged. 

"But nothing. He dies!" Wesker tossed Riley aside and stormed to the door. "Don't be a fool, Harley. Stay right here. Do not move." Miranda nodded mutely then turned to Riley as the door slammed behind her. 

"What kind of stupid name is Fruit Loop?" She asked, helping Riley to his feet. 

Albert Wesker walked stealthily down the dark hallway. He'd evacuated the lab sometime ago and was now hunting down a Hunter. He'd shut off the lights in hopes of keeping others out of the area until the matter had been resolved. He was not surprised to learn that he saw just as well in the dark as he did in the light. 

Hunters, he had read from Riley's notes, were hard to spot because they liked to hang around in high places such as air ducts and chandeliers. Because of their abnormally large leg muscles they were able to leap high distances with ease. They were easily heard because of the mammoth talons on their feet and hands. He was listening now, but heard nothing save a small rat that was crawling around in its cage. 

Then all at once a clicking noise began, starting at the rear of the room and advancing slowly in his direction. Although Hunters had great agility and speed, they liked to stalk their prey at a leisurely pace. 

Wesker had also learned that Hunters gave out a high-pitched scream after they had overtaken their quarry. Smiling wolfishly, he hoisted the gun to his shoulder and watched as the inquisitive Hunter made its way toward him. This poor Hunter wouldn't even get the chance to scream…

Riley glared at Wesker indignantly his lower lip puckered. He turned to the Hunter lying on the table and ran a hand over its scaly nose. "Jeez Wesker. Why didn't you just bring him back in pieces?"

"You're lucky I didn't, Riley." Wesker said lightly. He was watching Miranda as she stared at the tall cages. Each of the Hunters stared back, the white eyes shinning. "Stay back." He warned her. Miranda looked toward him and smiled, her sea green eyes brilliant. Something strange shot through him but immediately he forced it away. 

"Who's this one?" Miranda asked, pointing at a cage on the floor. The Hunter inside snapped, it's sharp talons reaching for her through the bars. 

Riley smiled proudly and patted the top. "This is Sugar Bear." He pointed to a nearby cage, where another white-eyed monster was snarling. "That's Gummy Butt."

"Not very friendly are they?" Miranda frowned, glancing once again at Wesker. 

"They're just shy." Riley waved her off and pointed to a cage at the far end of the room. This time, there were two growling beasts in the same cage. "We put these two together to study their social skills. They are Scooby and Scrappy Doo. They're twins you know." He once again smiled proudly.

"They all look the same to me." Wesker cracked. "How do you know those two are twins?" He choked before bursting into genuine laughter. 

"Mind what you say. These are delicate bio-monsters. I've told you that before." With that, Wesker who had just quieted down burst out laughing again. Miranda smiled broadly. This was a much better laugh than the one she'd heard a week ago.

"And that…well…that's…" Riley scratched his head. Miranda leaned closer to the cage and narrowed her eyes. 

"Pookie." She told them. Wesker exploded with laughter. 

"Pookie?" Riley shot back. "What kind of stupid name is Pookie?" Behind them Wesker was gasping for breath. 

"He's got a brown spot on his forehead…" Wesker wheezed, doubling over and grabbing his sides. Miranda and Riley stared at him, not sure of what to make of the laughter. 

"He does not." Riley informed him. 

"It's not a he. It's a she." Miranda snapped. 

"How can you tell?" Fresh laughter broke free and Wesker stumbled back to a chair still holding his sides. 

"We're women." Miranda said. "We know these things." 

"All right. You win. This one's Pookie then." Riley muttered. "Don't say I never done anything for you." Wesker's chair fell backward, the two of them staring at him as he laughed harder. 

Finally, as Wesker stood up and dusted himself off. Fruit Loop began to wake up, growling as it did so. Miranda and Riley didn't seem to notice; they had turned back to one another and were arguing profusely. The Hunter sat up on the table, and projected itself with its powerful legs straight toward Miranda. Without realizing it, Wesker leapt in front of it, catching the monster in mid-leap and tackling it to the ground. 

"Hey!" Riley shouted as Wesker strong armed the creature into a cage and slammed the door. 

Wesker whirled to face him his mirth all at once gone. "I want these things under control, Riley. No more escapes or outages. I will not fight these monsters during my missions. Is that clear? Get them under control or I'll exterminate the whole lot of them! Pookie or not!" 

"Glad to have you back, Wesker, we were worried for a second there." Riley retorted. Miranda snickered in spite of herself. 

"Listen closely, both of you. We have very little room for mistakes. I do not have the time or the patience to play games." Wesker scowled at Riley. "Now, if you both are finished, we need to discuss what we know of Ozwell Spencer's grave. For the moment, Miranda will head up the operation." Miranda sighed audibly. Wesker had always been the same way. He'd go from one extreme to the next without waiting for others to catch up with him. Glancing toward her, Wesker gave her a look that told her he knew what she was thinking. She frowned at him. So many things were running through her mind and she had nowhere to put them all. Telling Wesker the truth about Spencer's grave would at least ease some of the tension. "Riley, have three Hunter's ready to go by morning. I want them in those Transport Cages and fully responsive to commands. Am I understood?" As Riley nodded, Wesker turned back to Miranda. "But first, Harley will tell me everything I want to know…" 

Over the next three hours Miranda Harley told Albert Wesker and Riley Davis secrets that she had never told another living soul. She broke promises to Umbrella and untied every bind she had with them. For the first time in their lives Miranda and Wesker were working together for a common goal. 


	6. The Gathering Storm

The wind was howling like a lost soul and trees swayed as if sharing the misery. A storm was fast approaching from the North, making the sky turn an eerie dark green. It was an uncanny sight for late August. But not uncanny compared to the grisly scene the Arklay Mountains had been witness to a mere month ago. 

Albert Wesker stood alone at the top of a hill and looked down, the wind roaring past him. He saw the corpse of his burial ground; a once proud mansion that was now nothing more than shadows and dust. A few moments later Miranda climbed up and stood next to him, her words catching in her throat. Neither of them spoke as they stared at the remains of the place that had been their death and their re-birth. 

Miranda tried to swallow the heavy lump in her throat. That mansion had been so much to her. She'd grown up there, she'd fallen in love there, and she'd been told she was going to have a child there. A tear slid silently down her face. Wesker reached over and wiped it away with his thumb. 

"Don't be a fool, Harley. Don't cry about this. Don't you ever cry about this." She looked at him solemnly. How could she not cry? Everything she'd ever known was here. Buried somewhere beneath the rubble was her entire past. Even Wesker couldn't change that. Once again her father had been right. No one could change the past. 

Wesker looked back toward Riley who was setting up the Transport cages and mumbling. "A little help here, Wesker!" He shouted. "You think a guy with super human powers would have a little courtesy…Jeez." Wesker smiled at Miranda as one of the octagonal cages fell on its side and the Hunter inside screeched loudly. Wesker walked down the hill towards him. 

"Oh dear…Poor Pookie…Did that scare the poopie out of him?" Wesker's sudden laughter alarmed a flock of birds and sent them scattering from the trees.

"Shame on you, Wesker." Miranda put in, following him. "Best not to make poor Pookie cry." Wesker laughed again. Reaching for the nearest cage, he hoisted it into the air and set it on more stable ground. Miranda didn't think she'd ever get used to the things the G-virus had done to him. 

As usual his mood changed in less than an instant. "Harley says the head stone should be within a hundred meters of this spot. Do you have an exact location on it yet?" 

"Well…no. I thought it was in the mansion. I'm still confused." Riley said. He fingered his black Operative jacket a moment before continuing. "It makes no sense that the man would have two graves."

"Yes it does." Miranda answered, gazing off into the denseness of the woods. "The headstone inside the mansion was another entrance into the secret B.O.W. lab that Umbrella was using. Originally that grave was built for the man who designed the mansion, but Ozwell decided it would be best to use George Trevor's headstone as an extra set of stairs. An escape route of sorts."

"Then where would you say George Trevor is buried?" Riley asked.

"More than likely he was fed to one of the bio-monsters Umbrella was working on at the time." Miranda began walking into the wooded area without another word. Wesker followed close on her heels. "If I remember right the headstone should be…" Pushing some of the dead leaves and fallen limbs aside, Miranda began to reveal a white marble tombstone with the words "Ozwell E. Spencer" imprinted. "Right here." Suddenly, all her memories came flooding back. She and another man had buried Spencer here after discovering him inside his private laboratory. His face had been burned beyond recognition. She swallowed hard, the lump in her throat rising again. "How are you going to bring him up Wesker? I can't dig very well." 

"And you won't." Wesker answered softly. "You don't think I can accomplish the task alone?" 

"It's not that," Miranda said. "I just…" she almost told him she didn't want him to, but instead she continued brushing away debris and prayed he wouldn't ask. Wesker headed back toward Riley to get the equipment he would need for the dig. He didn't ask.

"Ouch!" Miranda pulled her hand away from the last clump of leaves on Spencer's grave and looked down at the tips of her fingers, which were beaded with blood. Returning with the tools, Wesker kneeled next to her as she pulled out a bouquet of black roses from the leaves. 

"Flowers for the dead." Wesker said in the silence. He took the roses from her and laid them aside. Wiping a tear away from her cheek, he kissed her fingertips. 

Less than an hour later, Wesker had made what would be a days long dig for any normal man look like a child's game. Before her sat the coffin of Ozwell Spencer, caked with mud. Miranda was using her hands to clean it off as Wesker rested. 

"You're not going to believe this." Riley strode toward them, a compact radio in hand. "The remaining S.T.A.R.S. members are kicking up a fuss in Chief Brain Irons office." 

"Really?" Wesker raised an eyebrow. "About?" 

"From what I gather, they're trying to talk to him about investigating the incident at the mansion. Don't they realize that Irons is Umbrella too?" Riley inquired.

"Those stupid S.T.A.R.S. have no idea how deep this Umbrella conspiracy runs. Do they Miranda?" Wesker replied sharply. But Miranda hadn't heard him. She was thinking of Sherry. She wondered for the thousandth time if her daughter was okay. She'd prayed nearly that much that Sherry was safe somewhere far away. But she would never know. The incident at the mansion that had "taken" her life had cut her ties with the Birkins. There was no way she could contact them, even to see if her daughter was safe. She blinked back tears at this new revelation.

"Chris Redfield is saying that everyone in Raccoon City will pay if something isn't done about Umbrella." Riley shrugged. "They're saying that if something isn't done soon, the entire city will be annihilated." 

"Good." Wesker sighed loudly, tossing down his shovel. "They all deserve to…" He was about to say more but stopped short when he saw the look on Miranda's face. Could she be thinking about Sherry? "Shall we?" He implored, gesturing to the lid of Spencer's coffin. For a moment Miranda almost told him no, but it wouldn't have done any good. When Wesker wanted something, nothing would stand in his way. 

The coffin opened with a loud groan, the eerie sound piercing the silence of the forest. The smell met her next and Miranda stepped back, almost choking. Wesker didn't seem to notice and pushed the wooden lid off with bravado. Riley leaned over them and peered inside wrinkling up his nose. 

Turning away, Miranda thought it best not to look inside. She wasn't sure she would ever be prepared for something like this. "Finally." Wesker said aloud. "Say hello to Ozwell…" But the remainder of the name died in his throat. "What in the hell? Harley you fool, what the bloody hell is this?" Wesker was suddenly shouting. Riley stepped backward, tripped over Miranda, and sent them both tumbling into the leaves. Without warning, Wesker grabbed the sides of the coffin and howled. It sounded very much the same as the howl they had heard in the laboratory a week ago. The ground shook in his fury. The Hunters, whose screeching echoed his anger, joined in scream.

Miranda looked away from Wesker and at the shaking coffin; it had been relieved of it's less than fleshy burden. While she watched, a shiny white paper slid from the pocket of the corpse's coat and fell to the earth with a dramatic flutter. 

"This is not Spencer!" Wesker shouted as Miranda reached for the paper. 

"It's laminated," she said with surprise. Wesker ignored her. "Wesker…"

"Did you not realize it wasn't him when you put him in the casket, Harley? Are you that much of a fool that you didn't realize that his teeth are not gold?" Wesker continued shouting. "I see no gold front teeth and I see no diamonds." Ozwell Spencer had been well known for his gold front teeth, each encrusted with a diamond. But this corpse had neither of these. 

Riley jumped to her defense. "She said the face was beyond recognition Wesker, she didn't say they opened his mouth and looked inside. He's wearing Spencer's jacket for goodness sake!"

"And why is that?" Wesker roared. "Can you tell me that, you little pea-brained moron?" 

"Would you two shut up!" Miranda shouted. Wesker stared at her in surprise. It wasn't like Miranda to yell. "While you were throwing your earthquake fit, this slipped out of his pocket." She paused to make sure she had his full attention. "Ozwell Spencer is not dead." 

"What?" Wesker barked.

"Listen to this." Miranda told him. Holding up the note, she read aloud:

"_Know you now_

Of days long past.

When death was alive,

And shadows long since cast.

Life and death were exploding,

With a pain akin to birth.

Lost in a castle of despair,

Whose walls were seeping with mirth...

Oh grave where is thy victory?

Walking dead, where is thy sting?

The child of rage must find me,

And with her, death she'll bring."

"What the hell does that mean?" Wesker growled, glaring at Miranda. 

"It means that Ozwell E. Spencer is alive somewhere." Riley answered quietly. 

"You must be joking!" Wesker screamed. The Hunters began shrieking. "I don't have time for this!" 

"But Wesker we…" Miranda began.

"No! I will not hear anymore. I've wasted enough time! Umbrella is about to make a breakthrough in the G-virus research and we're out here digging up empty graves." 

"It's not empty." Riley said. "This is a body." He pointed to the rotting skeleton.

"If it's not Spencer then I don't care." Wesker exploded. "Get your gear and let's go." 

"But Wesker, we need to find Ozwell Spencer." Miranda protested, shoving the laminated note in her coat pocket. Wesker turned to Miranda and grabbed her by the wrists, jerking her roughly along with him. 

"No!" He shouted. "I will not waste any more time on this foolishness." Riley stared after them in shock. Thunder rumbled in the distance and lighting all at once lit up the sky. 

"Wesker!" Miranda cried. Without warning rain began to pour from the sky in torrents, soaking them to the bone. Wesker jerked her roughly against him and growled inhumanly. "Please…" She whispered softly. 

"Harley, don't be a fool. We cannot waste time looking for a man that may or may not be alive. Umbrella is about to do something that will do irrevocable damage to the future of a certain researcher and I will not miss out on what is rightfully mine." He shook her violently the thunder echoing his movement. 

"Wesker!" Riley shouted over the growing storm. "You're hurting her." 

Finally, what Riley was saying to him got through and Wesker stared down at Miranda. Her eyes were wet with tears as he leaned down and kissed her. He couldn't help himself. "Someday," he whispered to her. "Someday we'll look for Ozwell Spencer. But not anytime soon." He ran a hand through her dampening hair and smiled slightly. "Riley. Come on." Miranda fingered the note in her pocket. Someday…


	7. Things are Heating Up

The next two weeks passed quickly for the three of them as Wesker trained a group of operatives and Riley worked to prefect his Hunter's behavioral skills. Miranda tried in vain to locate the whereabouts of her daughter but came up empty handed. In her free time she began to rebuild the Tyrant DNA that she and her father had spent a lifetime on. 

It wasn't hard to rebuild what she had lost. She'd always had an excellent memory. Even if she hadn't stored the DNA in "safe place", her father had taught her the importance of storing her memories deep inside.

She and Wesker had seen very little of each other that she almost missed him. It wasn't the same as it used to be. There was something different about the two of them. Whether Wesker wanted to admit it or not, a certain bond had grown between them. 

She sat behind a computer panel in the main laboratory working to restore her data. She looked up only once as Wesker entered the room. She blushed as he winked at her and quickly ducked her head to continue her work. She'd also discovered over the past two weeks that whenever Wesker looked at her, her insides quivered and she was a giddy as a teenager. There was definitely something different between them. She wondered if Wesker noticed. 

Two weeks had passed and Albert Wesker wasn't sure he was ready for them to. He had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that Raccoon city was indeed about to pay for Umbrella's mistakes. That was why he'd singled out the best of the H.C.F. operatives and begun to train them. He would be ready when the announcement came that Umbrella had assassinated William Birkin. 

He and Riley had also continued research into the disappearance of Ozwell Spencer but could find nothing. There was no denying that the only way they were going to get anywhere was with the laminated note that Miranda refused to give up. Wesker had learned the value of patience however. So no matter what purpose Miranda had for keeping the note, he would give her time to give it back to him. 

He hadn't seen much of her during the day. Riley told him that she had once again begun studying and recreating the DNA of the Tyrant. But for some reason, at night, she had been crawling into his bed and laying her head on his chest. The sensation was as enjoyable as it was shocking. He didn't know what to make of it. Didn't she know that he never slept? But for whatever reason, it did give him the chance to feel her next to him and to smell the sweet fragrance that was Miranda Harley.

Just now, she was sitting behind one of the primary computers in the main lab, her work projecting on a massive screen behind her. From what he could tell the new strand was almost complete. Miranda had proved her value to the H.C.F. Now the Corporation would have nothing more to say to him concerning those matters. He'd given Miranda the freedom to do as she pleased and she had rewarded him in turn. He would give Miranda the world if she'd only ask him; and that was what frightened him the most. He caught himself staring at her and turned away. If there were such a thing as dark fairies Miranda, in all her ethereal beauty, was bound to be one of them. 

Riley patted him on the forearm and smiled. "You've lost it, my man."

"Lost what?" Wesker looked at him in confusion. 

"Yep, you're gone…" Riley giggled.

"Wesker." Every time Miranda said his name, something happened inside him and he hated it. It was not supposed to be this way and it couldn't be this way. "I have something to show you." He nodded and walked to her seat resting his hands on its back. 

"Then show me." He spoke gently, leaning down to kiss the back of her neck. Miranda shivered. 

"This strand of DNA is not the same as before. For some reason I can't get it to match. This strand has a human gene that makes it reform and generate newer healthier cells than before." Miranda's sea green eyes were glowing with excitement. "If this is correct than the Tyrant would become almost an unstoppable force. After being injured, his body would renew itself completely, not just stop the bleeding." Wesker placed a hand on her shoulder. 

"Harley, I think you're on to something here. Riley, look at this." Riley strode up to them and leaned over the chair squinting at the strand spinning on the screen. 

"Not bad. But I'm not sure you know what you're doing. This is supposed to be green." Putting his finger to the side of his nose, he acted like he was wiping whatever was on his finger on the screen. Miranda snickered and shot out of her chair, wrestling him to the ground. The two were roughhousing and laughing uproariously when all at once the lab door burst opened. Miranda and Riley stopped immediately and stared at it. Miranda did not like the feeling she had in the pit of her stomach as one of Wesker's men stepped inside. 

Dressed all in black, like his superior, the young man was solemn even as he spoke. " Sir, its happening." He waited for Wesker's nod and then continued. "Umbrella sent a Task Force to assassinate William Birkin." The bottom dropped out of Miranda's stomach. 

"No." She gasped. "Wesker…they have a daughter." It was the first time she'd ever come to close to telling him the truth about Sherry; that she knew of. "We have to save her." 

"What for?" Wesker growled, throwing a malicious look over his shoulder at her.

"Wesker!" Miranda lamented. "We…"

"We do nothing, Harley. Right now, there are more important matters at hand." He turned back to the young man before him. "Jacks, get the crew and prepare for an attack on the task force. We must get the G-virus sample!" Miranda continued to sit where she was. She was suffering and unable to think of anything but the safety of her daughter. Wesker picked her up by her arms and sat her on her feet. "Besides, he wasn't a good father to her anyway. Don't be a fool, Harley. Let's go." With that Wesker, the young man, and Riley marched out of the room to prepare for the upcoming mission. 

It wasn't too much later that they were all sitting in a crowded airplane. Wesker was barking out orders when the same young man opened the cockpit door and shouted. "Birkin's dead, sir. So are the task force members. Something went wrong." 

"Like what?" Wesker shouted back angrily. 

"It seems that there's a monster on the loose in the sewer system. We heard a lot of screaming over their radio transmits." He answered. 

"Oh god. No," Miranda whispered. 

"I don't have a good feeling about this either." Riley told her, laying a hand on her shoulder. 

"What of the G-virus?" Wesker snarled. 

"Presumably, sir, it's still down in the sewer system." As the young man finished, Wesker let out a string of curse words that would make any sailor blush with shame. Miranda grabbed his arm. Looking down at her he frowned. "Find out, Jacks, we can't afford any mistakes right now." Wesker adjusted his sunglasses and turned to Riley. "Get your Hunters ready. The minute we arrive in Raccoon City I want them alert and responsive. Am I clear?" For a moment he turned away, then as if remembering something he turned back. "And Riley?" He titled his dark glasses down to meet Riley eye to eye. 

"Sir?" He asked almost fearfully.

"Get your hand off her." 

An hour or so later, Albert Wesker stood next to Ada Wong, the plane's hanger door open in front of them. Ada was yet another H.C.F. agent that had been spying on Umbrella for years. She had a spectacular array of knowledge involving guns and bio-monsters. She was well versed in the antics of Umbrella and could predict their plans with ease. He had joined hands with her for those very reasons. But for some unknown reason Miranda hated her. 

"If that G-virus isn't in Umbrella's hands then something worse has happened." Ada said aloud. 

"Birkin happened to them," Wesker told her. "He knew what potential that virus had. It's very likely that Birkin injected the virus into his own body and turned into a bio-weapon." Ada nodded at that. "In any case, the creature in the sewers must be exterminated and that virus found. Find Annette Birkin, stick to your story and radio me with the results." Ada nodded again and leapt out of the hanger, her parachute opening moments later. Dawn was approaching fast. 

"What's the date?" Wesker asked the pilot as he entered the cockpit and sat in the co-pilot's chair.

"September 27th, sir. Six o'clock and o' six hundred hours." The pilot answered. Wesker liked this pilot. He had a lot to do and little to say about it, and what was more he was nothing like "Chicken Heart" Brad Vickers. "The city's strange looking today, sir. There's nothing moving down there." Wesker leaned over to the window and glared down at the city below. It was strange, even for this time of the morning there should have been some sort of activity. 

"Ada." He pushed the com-link on his ear and spoke. " What do you see?" 

"Nothing. This town's deserted." Ada's voice came back mostly static. "This is the strangest thing I have ever…wait…Wesker…I'm getting…" the words began to break up.

Wesker sat still for a long moment waiting for Ada to respond, but there was nothing more. "Land here. Then keep this thing grounded until I tell you otherwise." He said at last opening the cockpit door. This was a stealth plane. No matter where they landed they would be undetected by Umbrella or anyone else for that matter. "Miranda." He motioned to her. She got up and walked over to him her head down. She'd been crying. Putting a finger under her chin he wiped the remaining tears away with his thumb. Then he took her hand and placed a gun in her palm. "This a .38 special. It's a powerful handgun. Chris Redfield used to swear by it. If you see him, use it." Miranda held out the handgun to look at it. She'd never used a gun before. This one was sleek metallic black and as cold as she felt inside. Her fingers rested on the trigger. 

"Wesker, I can't use a…" Before she finished the com-link in Wesker's ear beeped shrilly. 

"What?" Wesker's voice was harsh. Something was wrong, she could tell in the way he spoke. He listened intently to the ear link then turned back to her. "Use the gun only if you have to, Harley. I'm afraid the situation is far worse than it first appeared."

Waves of panic shot through her, "What do you mean?" 

"Sir," the young man, Jacks, burst out of the cockpit. "The Police Department has been breached. Zombies are over taking the Station."

"Zombies?" Several of the Operatives echoed. The tiny cargo bay became a jumble of voices, save those of Wesker, Riley, and Miranda. 

Miranda felt as if she could throw up. Her daughter was there with those things. She had little to no chance of survival with those monsters on the loose. 

"Quiet!" Wesker shouted at last. "You are all aware of what Umbrella is capable of. Even with their mistakes. This should not come as a surprise. Riley, I want you to gives us a review of what the typical zombie can do." Riley inclined his head and stood, his legs trembling. He'd never been too good in a crowd. The plane shifted, beginning it's descent into the unknown.

"Well…ah…the typical zombie is nothing more than a human who has lost all sense of self. They are more like…"He paused searching for the right way to describe such a horrendous monster. "Like wolves. They survive on instinct alone. The only thing they know is that taste of human flesh is what they crave. They do not perceive that they are in any danger and will purse their prey relentlessly. Their hunger for flesh is so strong they will go blindly to their deaths…well, second deaths…to get it." Riley paused to cough and continued. "While alone they are easily dispatched, but in groups…whew…they can be deadly." 

"A simple hand gun can be used." Wesker finished. "However, preserve ammo if you can. There are very likely more menacing creatures that are bound to be hanging about." Behind Wesker Miranda was holding her breath. The fear she felt inside was quickly growing out of control. As the plane landed, Wesker kicked open the hatch and waited for his operatives to leap out before returning to Miranda. 

"You listen to me, Harley." He said harshly. "You stay close to Riley if I'm not around. Use that gun and don't get any ideas about running off alone to find the Birkin's daughter." 

"But Wesker, she's just a little girl. We can't leave her alone." Miranda argued. 

"We're here to get the G-virus not go off on some bleeding heart mission." Wesker snapped. 

"She's just a little girl, Wesker. It's not fair." Miranda glared into his eyes, willing him to understand. Instead he grabbed her arm and shook her roughly. 

"You think Sherry is the only child out there, Miranda? Think again. There are hundreds of children in this city and they're all going to die…if they're not dead already. I will not risk lives to find one little girl." He dropped her arm and turned to leave.

"It's not fair, Wesker!" Miranda shouted. 

His red eyes flashed as he turned his head to glare at her. "Not fair? I'll tell you what's not fair." He stormed back to her and seized her by the arms again. "Losing your humanity because of someone else's mistakes is not fair. Watching everything you've planned and worked so carefully to obtain crumble around you is not fair." Miranda said nothing. She watched his face hoping he would change his mind eventually. "Now, I don't know why you care so much for the Birkin's daughter," He lied. "But I want you to put her out of your mind. Otherwise you'll get yourself killed." This time he threw her arms down with bravado and moved to the hatch. He turned suddenly, his eyes on Riley. Although Miranda did not understand Riley nodded. "Safe and sound, Wesker. Safe and sound." Wesker nodded back and jumped to the ground below, disappearing into the darkness. 

This was the second time that had happened. What were they talking about?

Riley watched Miranda for a long moment before speaking. She was standing alone staring out the cargo bay door after Wesker. She looked so sad he was almost afraid to bother her. 

"It's not so bad." He said at last. "What are a few zombies?"

"A few?" Miranda frowned but didn't look at him. "I would imagine that it's more than a few. The creation process for a normal zombie is no more than a few hours. If five are running around and these five kill five more...well, you get the picture." 

"I know, but I just thought..."

"Riley, my...there's a little girl out there that I care for very much. I just can't help thinking about her. I'm scared to death for her." Miranda admitted. She'd almost let the truth slip to Riley as well. 

"Well, there's nothing we can do right now. Wesker would have my head if I let you go out there. I'm sorry." Riley shrugged. "Can I ask you something?" Miranda nodded silently. "Do you think Ada likes me?" The question caught her off guard and she laughed in spite of herself. "No really. Be serious. Do you think she'd ever fall for a guy like me?" 

Miranda smiled and came to sit beside him. "I don't know. Have you asked her on a date or anything?" 

"Oh no. Are you kidding? I couldn't do that. I have to be suave and debonair like Wesker. He is smooth isn't he?" Riley elbowed her in the ribs, a wide grin on his face.

"Smooth isn't the word..." Miranda mumbled. Smooth was certainly not the word for Wesker. Selfish, self-absorbed, devilishly charming fit his description much better. 

"Tell me what Wesker did to get you?" Riley asked. Miranda stared at him as if he'd just fallen off a turnip truck. Was she that obvious?

"What makes you think Wesker and I are..."

"Oh come on, M. Give me a break. I wasn't born yesterday." 

"It's not that he got me. Wesker and I..."she struggled for the right words. "Our relationship was always...um..."

"I get it. You guys were going into the business of breaking in head boards right?" Riley cracked. Embarrassed at the term used, Miranda elbowed him back. "Well you're a girl. Give me a few pointers on what a woman wants in a man. And don't tell me I need a lot of work. I'm perfectly handsome and witty, thank you." 

Miranda smiled. Leave it to Riley to make her feel better. "Why Ada? She's a natural born liar you know." 

"Why do you hate her so much?" Riley glared at her for insulting his love interest. How could she tell Riley that she hated Ada because Ada had double-crossed her family, her father in particular? Ada had posed as the girlfriend of John Fay, one of the researchers at the Arklay Mountain Facility, and dug into secret files. She had only recently learned that Ada had sold those secrets to the company she was working for, the company that Albert Wesker had recently begun to work for. Instead of telling him all that and getting off on a tangent Miranda shrugged her shoulders. 

"Just be careful, Riley." She said softly. "And don't worry about trying to be someone you're not. Be yourself and the whole world will love you."

"I don't want the whole world to love me," Riley said dejectedly. "I just want Ada to...hehe…you know what I mean?"

For a while Riley and Miranda were silent, each was lost in their own thoughts. 

Miranda wondered for the thousandth time if Sherry was all right. If she knew her daughter, she had a feeling she'd be fine. Being the daughter of Albert Wesker gave her a lot of resources and talent from which to draw her survival. She just had to keep telling herself that Sherry would be okay. 

"Miranda?" Riley's voice cut through the thick silence like a knife. Miranda turned to look at him. "Do you suppose the department stores are filled with zombies too?"

It was dark inside the Sears department store as Wesker made his way down the main isle. He hadn't noticed any creatures walking about. But then again, he hadn't gone that far. His boots made the only sounds. The quietness was eerie. 

He'd never liked clothing stores. He'd never found a reason to go there. Barry Burton of the S.T.A.R.S. team had complained constantly about the hours his wife and two daughters could spend in one. It was a good thing that Barry had had that family. 

He had been easier to manipulate that way. 

When he was younger, before discovering Umbrella and their rivals, Wesker had thought a lot about having a family one-day. Those thoughts had been lost when he'd met William Birkin and blackmailed him out of a G-virus sample. Now the only thing he thought about were revenge and power, which were relatively one and the same. His com-link squelched and tore him from his thoughts. "Third floor is crawling, sir. Requesting...Ahhhh..." The transmission ended as Wesker raced for the nearest stairwell. Leaping straight into the air, Wesker landed easily on the third floor railing and listened. It sounded like wet shoes sloshing towards him. A few mournful moans told him that there were at least twenty to thirty of the creatures heading in his direction...in his direction maybe, but not towards him. He had noticed that zombies paid him no heed. After all, he was dead just like they were. 

A small cry sounded from behind him and Wesker lost his balance. Tumbling over the railing he landed on his back the air rushing out of him. "Mommy?" The child was crying profusely above him. "Mommy, where are you?" Wesker stood and listened again but this time he heard only the solemn quietness. It was indeed a pity for a child to die. They had yet to reach their full potential in life and would never get the chance to. 

Leaping again brought him over the railing and into the chest of a groaning zombie. He pushed it aside and continued walking. In the darkness he could see them as they watched him with their pupil-less eyes. He could see the rotting clumps of flesh that fell from their bodies. Turning his nose up, he continued, for some reason still listening for the child. 

"No!" The little girl screamed as if her lungs were exploding. Wesker didn't know why but he could not ignore this. Bursting forward with agile feet, he reached the child just in time to see her tackle the female zombie and sprint in the direction he'd just come from. "Mother!" the child screamed again. This time Wesker was too fast for her and caught her easily. 

Holding her out while she kicked and scratched he stared at the little girl. "Let me go!" Her blonde hair flew around her face and her blue eyes shone like fire with her will to survive. He recognized this child without a shadow of a doubt. This was his daughter, Sherry. For once he was speechless, his mind a jumble of painful thoughts and memories that had never existed for him. 

He was too lost in his thoughts to notice as Sherry leaned down and bit him on the wrist. In surprise he dropped her. He watched her scramble to her feet and run down the hall. At the air vent, Sherry turned back and glared through the darkness at Wesker. The independent challenge in her eyes was unmistakable. She may look like him but she definitely had Miranda's spirit. 

Sherry disappeared into the air duct just as the building's lights flickered then came on at full power. Zombies stood all around Wesker, some still holding in their shopping bags. Three members of his crew lay in floor dead. Their flesh had been torn from their bodies and hung like ribbons on the floor around them. Wesker scowled and stepped over them. They most definitely weren't as good as he'd thought. Training more before the next mission would take time away from the things he needed to accomplish. 

The zombies ignored him, wandering around each other and bumping into what remained of shop displays. There was nothing more he needed to see here. It would not be long before Umbrella sent their newly formed Bio Hazard Countermeasure team in to "clean up" the town. This new team was a group of hired mercenaries who had no idea Umbrella was merely using them as combat data. It was the same thing that they had done to the S.T.A.R.S. Only this time, for once learning from their mistakes, Umbrella was using a bunch of no names that would not come back to haunt them. Laughing in spite of himself he realized the incredible irony of the whole situation. There were a lot of things that were going to come about in a vicious circle to haunt Umbrella Inc. 

Looking out the window, he saw Sherry sprinting across the parking lot, looking desperately at the structures around her before vanishing down a dark alley. "This area is dead. Destroy it." Wesker said into his com-link. It was better to destroy the evidence that they'd been there than have those three come back as zombies and be found somewhere in the city. 

As he left the building he looked down at his watch. It was late afternoon but by the way the clouds had been hanging over the city it seemed as if it were still night. Even the clouds knew that something wasn't right with this city. Behind him the building exploded. The detonation shook the ground and toppled the department store to its very foundation. 

Miranda heard the explosion and shot out of her chair in the cockpit. She leaned toward the widow and squinted into the darkness, searching for the source of the blast. The pilot jostled from sleep turned to her. "It's just Wesker and the boys, lady. Calm down." 

Miranda felt something explode inside of her. "Calm down? Sherry's out there and you're telling me to calm down. What if she was in that building, you idiot?" She shouted. 

"Hey! I take a lot of crap off Wesker, lady. I won't take it from you." The pilot jumped out of his chair and met Miranda face to face. "Do you here me…" His words trailed off as Wesker's voice filed the cockpit. 

"Leave her alone, Peters. She's highly upset at the state of the town. Surely you can understand that." His tone sounded amused. "Miranda, go tell Riley to send out two of his Hunters. Peters, listen carefully. Send out two of our Choppers and get them ready for clean up detail. I'll need them here at 1700 hours, so work quickly." The voice faded out and Miranda found herself shaking inside. He sounded just as sexy over the radio as he did in person. Exiting the cockpit Miranda sat next to Riley and whispered in his ear. Laughing he stood up and began the preparations to let Scooby and Scrappy Doo out of their cages. 

The sudden explosion rocked the airplane and knocked Miranda into a set of monitors. Riley stumbled toward her as the second eruption rocked the plane again. The cockpit had disappeared in a wall of flames. "Something's wrong. Come on!" Riley grabbed her arm and pulled her to the Hanger door. The Hunters leapt into the darkness just ahead of them. 

Miranda's heart was beating fast. She couldn't understand what had gone wrong. This was supposed to have been a stealth plane. No one should have been able to do this to them. She wondered briefly if Wesker knew anything about this before the third explosion sent them flying from the Hanger door… 

As night began to fall over the condemned city, making it far darker than before, Miranda rolled over and opened her eyes, moaning as she did so. Riley lay next to her, curled into a whimpering ball. Pain crept over her, fear following closely on its heels. 

She remembered the explosion and shoved him. "Riley, we have to find the pilot. Where is he?" Riley sat up and rubbed his head but didn't answer her. Miranda got to her feet and ran to the front of the airplane hoping to find the pilot safe. The cockpit, however, was still on fire, which didn't bode well for him. Walking around the far side of the cockpit revealed the bed of a truck with the word "Chevro" in charred letters on the tailgate. That meant that this truck had somehow made it through the wooded area to the grounded airplane and driven into the cockpit. But why would they? No one even knew they were there. 

"Holy Cow!" Riley shouted as he ran up to her. "So that's what happened." Miranda nodded. "What now? We can't stay here. What if the whole plane blows up?" 

"We have to find Wesker," Miranda agreed. She held out the gun Wesker had given her and knew with sickening dread that it wouldn't be too long before she would be forced to use it. Riley held out his own gun, showing it to her. It was a Magnum .357 much like the one that Marcus Baker had used in his fight with Wesker. With that, the two of them turned to the opening in the wooded area. Finding Wesker would prove to be a very difficult task. 


	8. A Town without Pity

Albert Wesker had been trying to contact the stealth plane for more than half an hour to no avail and it was starting to worry him. He hadn't even entertained the thought that Miranda or Riley had gone in search of Sherry. He knew that Riley was not brave enough to undermine him. 

Until now he hadn't had time to do anything about it. Jacks, who had recently been named team leader, had discovered that Umbrella was already been planning to find the last G-virus sample and extract it from the city. They were now working against the clock to find it first. The only thing standing in their way, however, was all those infernal zombies and that mysterious monster that was still prowling the sewers. 

The entire town of over 200, 000 people, were all zombies. Wesker had to admit that he'd never seen anything like it. Even the incident at the mansion had only dealt with a few hundred. This was outrageous. 

"Ada." He spoke into his com-link, gazing around him to make sure that he was alone. Her voice came back static to him. Frowning he smoothed back his hair. It had been a very frustrating day. 

"Wesker, there was an explosion in the forest area near point B. Haven't found any more details than that. City completely infested with zombies. Army is planning to close off the town to outsiders as soon as tomorrow. Mission should be as simple as getting to the G-virus sample…."Ada's voice faded out then came back; "It is believed that there are a few people alive within the police department and a few in the Underground Research facility including Annette Birkin." 

"Good. Keep me informed, Ada." He told her. Night was falling heavily on the city and Wesker knew that he would have to get to Miranda soon and get her to a safer spot. That way he could also find out what had happened to communications with the stealth plane and thus killing two birds with one stone. He had no idea that Riley and Miranda were already lost within the city. 

Miranda leaned against the side of a crashed car breathing heavily. Riley collapsed beside her and choked. "Man, that was close! Where'd those guys come from anyway?" They'd nearly been eaten alive by a group of repugnant zombies. How they'd gotten out of that situation she would never know. She hadn't even been able to fire her gun. She'd closed her eyes and aimed, but never got a shot off. 

She prayed that her daughter Sherry was much better off than they were. Surely Annette Birkin had been smart enough to tell her to go somewhere that was protected. She'd been trying to think of a place safer herself. 

"The police station!" She shouted in excitement. 

"The what? Miranda, are you crazy? Didn't you hear when that guy said zombies had overtaken the police station? That place is crawling with them!" Riley shouted back. "We go there, it would be like walking into a mouse trap! No sir! Not me!" 

"Then where, Riley? Where are we supposed to go that Wesker could find us?" Miranda exploded. "Where are we supposed to go that's safe?" 

"I don't know, why don't you tell me. You know Wesker better than the rest of us apparently." Riley snapped. Miranda closed her eyes and saw red. She slapped Riley hard enough to turn his head to the side. She'd never been so angry in all her life. 

"Don't talk to me like that!" She growled. Riley turned his head back to her, his face filled with malice. But before either of them could continue their argument, the door fell off the car and a putrefied zombie stumbled out toward them. Behind Riley two other members of the undead were walking slowly in their direction. 

"Jeez, these things are ugly." Riley muttered reaching for Miranda's wrist. "Run!" The two of them stormed past the zombies and ran as fast as they could. Neither had any clue where to go. 

The bookstore loomed ahead of them, illuminated by the still working streetlights. "In here!" Miranda wasn't sure who said it, but both of them responded. Kicking in the door, Riley and Miranda tumbled inside their gasping breath the only sound.

"Oh jeez…oh jeez…how the hell are we going to get out of this one?" Riley wheezed. Miranda said nothing. Instead she got up and searched for a light switch. "Be careful," Riley warned. "We still don't know what's in here." 

She found nothing and didn't dare stray too far alone. Groaning, she sat down on the floor. "We can't stay here, Miranda. We'll have to get to Wesker somehow. If we stay in one place we're like sitting ducks." A rumble outside brought Riley next to her.

Miranda closed her eyes and sighed. She could almost imagine Wesker was here with her. If only his inhuman ability had given him the power to hear her in his mind. 

If only her father was still working for Umbrella mistakes like this one would never have been made. If only he were still alive. At least he would have known what to do in this situation. But there was no time for regrets. She had to find Wesker and save Sherry. These were the things that would keep her alive for now. 

A sound like wet shoes came to them from the doorway. A soft moan echoed the strange noise. "Oh shit!" Riley shouted, leaping to his feet. "Miranda, come on!" 

Miranda was shaking. She'd never be able to run past that thing. What if there were more of them? She was more afraid than she wanted to admit. Riley hefted his gun and fired allowing light from the backfire to illuminate the room enough for Miranda to see three zombies beginning to surround them. 

Then they heard something unusual. Something unlike anything they'd ever heard before. It sounded like someone was clearing they're throat, followed closely by a strange clicking. Riley perked up upon hearing this. "Scooby… Scrappy… Here boys." He whistled and patted his leg. The zombies stopped to listen, as if they understood the sound. Miranda searched desperately for a light switch. If they only had a little light it would be easier to escape. Without it, they were doomed. Riley whistled again. 

Miranda found a switch on the side of a bookcase and grasped a switch. She flipped it with fervor and all at once the lights inside the bookstore flared to life. What the light revealed brought a scream from Miranda. A hideous creature clung to the ceiling above them. It was skinless, the muscles and brain appearing clearly. Its tongue stretched out almost touching Miranda's face. She screamed again as Riley seized her arm and pulled her up stairway nearby. The zombies moaned loudly and slowly followed them the strange creature on their heels. 

At the top of the stairs, Riley threw Miranda into an open doorway and turned to fire his gun at the advancing monsters. Miranda stumbled in and fumbled for a light switch. This room was blessedly empty. She heaved a sigh for relief as Riley stormed in and slammed the door. "What the hell was that?" He coughed, reloading his magnum. 

"Don't ask me." Miranda answered quietly. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Even being on the Umbrella research team? That's crazy." Riley checked the widows for their durability.

"We never dealt with anything like that. We never thought we'd have to." She told him pitifully. 

"You never thought about what that virus was capable of? You never thought that it could do this much damage?" Riley snapped.

"I was under the impression that this virus would never leak out and destroy anything. We were doing research for bio-chemical warfare." Miranda shot back. 

"There's the key word, M, warfare. It makes men crazy. It makes them do things inane even at the cost of human life. Your precious Wesker is not immune to this." Riley glared at her. "What do you think he's doing here? Trying to save the city?"

"And what about you? You're not here playing with your pets." Miranda said rudely. Turning her back on Riley she made her way to the far wall. She looked out at all the zombies below them limping single file into the bookstore and laid a hand on the window. There would be no easy escape from this city. 

"Listen, Miranda, we all have our dark sides. When we get out of this, I'll tell you all about mine if that's what you want. But for now, let's try to get to Wesker…alive." Riley said at last. "That thing is dead. I shot it as it was coming up the stairs." 

Miranda continued to stare out the window, watching as a young woman ran through the parking lot toward a burning car. "Help me!" She screamed. Miranda knew they'd never reach her in time. There were too many of them. This proved to be true as they surrounded the woman and took her to the ground. She disappeared beneath them still screaming. 

Miranda turned away wishing that Wesker would hear them if they screamed, but there was no guarantee. There was no telling where he was. 

Wesker stood outside the wooded area and frowned. The feeling in the pit of his stomach was not a comforting one. Some type of vehicle had cleared a large part of the brush away. By the looks of the tire tracks, it had been a full size pickup truck. 

The Hunters were loose. There were some of them prowling around the area now. It seemed strange that the Hunters would be loose. He'd only asked Riley to let out two of them and they were supposed to come immediately to him. Something must have happened, he concluded. But what?

His arrival at the grounded airplane and seeing the cockpit on fire confirmed his suspicions. Angrily he grabbed the side of the hanger door and ripped it off its hinges. A hunter screeched in the darkness and leapt towards him. Wesker caught it under the chin and sent it flying. He watched in ire as a second Hunter took off deeper into the woods. It wouldn't be long before this one found its way into the city. 

Since there were bound to be more Hunters on the loose that meant that they would soon begin to procreate and multiply. Then they too would have run over the city...one more hellish monster to have to fight and waste his valuable time.

Searching the area he found Miranda's watch. It was the watch he'd given her as a present a few years ago. That could mean only one thing. Miranda and Riley were somewhere in the city and he had little time to find them before something else found them first. 

He needed them both for their intellect and talents and would not risk losing them just yet. Tossing the door on top of the fallen Hunter, Wesker set out to find two wayward people trapped somewhere in a city of death. 

The window broke easily beneath their weight as Miranda and Riley sailed through it landing hard on the pavement below. The zombies didn't have enough time to react as they jumped to their feet and continued running. They stopped only to rest in the middle of an open street. 

"Okay," Miranda gasped. "If I remember right there's a pet store right up this way." Gasping and coughing the two of them launched themselves at the door to the pet store slamming it behind them as a lone zombie pounded life-less fists on the glass. 

"What else can go wrong here? Jeez!" Riley panted. "We've seen zombies and skinless thingys, and Hunters, and a giant spider. Can you believe that? A giant spider!" Both of them fell silent for a moment trying to grasp what they had just seen. 

The growl split the silence like a knife. "Oh my god." Miranda said aloud. "What now?"

"Do we want to know?" Riley asked flipping on a nearby light. A single dog sat on the counter top. Its eyes were milky white and half of the skin on its face missing. The flesh on its sides was stripped away to reveal gruesome sets of muscle tissue and bone.

Miranda reached for it without realizing what she was doing. "You poor thing…" Riley jumped at her and tackled her to the ground.

"Have you lost your mind, M? Look at that thing!" Riley cried. Snarling, the dog leapt off the counter and flung itself at Riley. Riley managed to grab it by the collar before the two of them rolled away from Miranda. Riley was trying almost ineffectively to keep it away from his throat. "Run, Miranda. Get out!" She could almost hear Wesker's roar in the hoarse words. Somehow it gave her the strength she needed. She kicked out her foot connecting with the dog's ribs and sending it up in the air yelping. It landed against the windowpane and lay there few moments whimpering as Riley pulled out his gun and shot it. Miranda looked away unable to help thinking of her father's prized Doberman, Rice. That dog had been the first of thirty to be infected with the T-virus. 

"So, they're here too. The T-virus is all over this city isn't it?" She choked out. "Nothing was spared."

"Sort of like that story of the first Passover huh?" Riley muttered. "Thanks, M." 

Miranda wanted to cry. All she could think about was all these people who had once lived and loved like she did. But now, they were nothing more than depraved monstrosities whose hunger drove them to eat the ones they loved. They had done nothing to deserve this. 

Had she helped bring this hellish fate to pass? Had her discoveries contributed to this ghastly city's ultimate destination? How many had to die for Umbrella's research to be complete? How many would suffer because of Umbrella's greed? Why had she not left after her father's death? 

Albert Wesker was why. For some reason he had a strange hold over her. No matter how much she tried to tell herself she hated him and could live without him she stayed. And why? Because she'd fallen in love with him.

Riley patted her on the shoulder. "Miranda, we can't stay here. Is there a back door?" Miranda nodded wordlessly. Biting her lip she stood and led him to the back of the store, almost tripping over the body of the storekeeper. 

"Patty." Miranda choked out before finally bursting into tears. The poor girl's throat was ripped open from ear to ear. This young girl had loved animals and adopted everything under the sun. She'd always tried to convince Miranda and Wesker they needed a pet, but Miranda was always afraid of them and now she knew why. The poor girl had never had a chance. 

Riley still had a hand on her arm and held her up. "Miranda. We've got to keep going." He said sympathetically. They opened the back door just as the front windows shattered and zombies began filling the store. 

The alley was empty, much to Miranda's relief, but every now and then they would catch a glimpse of a zombie standing at a window moaning sorrowfully. "This is insane." Riley said softly. "Totally and completely insane." Miranda agreed with him. The sooner they found Wesker, made sure Sherry was safe, and got out of there the better off she'd be. 

Just past a basketball court enclosed in a chain link cage, the alleyway was blocked off by a large van. There was no way to get around it or go through it since the front part of the vehicle was engulfed in flames. Their only choice was to go straight through the basketball court. But how would they get rid of all those zombies inside? There had to be at least a dozen throwing themselves against the walls of the court moaning ceaselessly at them. 

"When I was scared as a kid, I used to think of a place I always wanted to be." Riley checked the barrel of his gun to make sure it was loaded. "What about you?" He took her gun and checked the clip. 

Miranda tore her eyes away from the zombies to smile ruefully at him. "I always tried to pretend I wasn't afraid. I wanted to be just like my father. Brave and courageous." 

"You are brave and courageous, M." He winked at her. "I'm thinking of a cold Antarctic climate." 

"Antarctic? Don't you have any sense? You'd freeze to death before you got to enjoy yourself." Miranda shook her head. 

"Not if I had Ada next to me." He snickered. She smiled at him. 

"Yeah. Well, I'm thinking of a tropical place. Sunny beaches, warm sand in between my toes…" Miranda closed her eyes. She could almost imagine the beach now and she felt warm inside. 

"Wesker naked on the…" Riley interpreted. Miranda laughed and shoved him. Then his face turned serious. "We'd better go Miranda…or we never will." Nodding, Miranda helped Riley kick in the Basketball court's gate where a dozen zombies were waiting for them. 

Albert Wesker stood on the roof of a former apartment building and watched as Miranda and Riley prepared to fight their way through an enclosed basketball court. It might have been an easy task if it weren't filled with a dozen or so mindless victims of the T-virus. He saw them laughing and frowned. It was obvious to him that Riley had no idea what he was about to get them into. 

But Miranda…Even with torn clothing and disarrayed hair she looked like a goddess…some sort of mystical princess who was prepared to sacrifice herself for the good of her people. 

She and Riley kicked at the cage door and managed to startle the zombies enough to give them leeway. Riley stood in front of Miranda and unloaded his gun felling several of the undead in the process. Miranda stood behind him, visibly shaking. Wesker hadn't realized just exactly how afraid she was of these monsters. 

"Shoot them!" Riley shouted. He was out of bullets and the remaining zombies were advancing quickly. Miranda raised her gun squeezed her eyes shut. The gun shook violently. She wasn't going to hit anything like that. 

Taking out his own gun, Wesker snipped the zombies from his position on the roof. They fell simultaneously each letting out a horrid moan as they died. Miranda opened her eyes and cheered. She and Riley hugged and laughed like children. Neither was aware that she hadn't hit anything at all. 

Leaping off the building Wesker landed gracefully in front of Miranda. Surprise swept over her beautiful features followed closely by relief. "Wesker!" She cried, throwing her arms around him and hugging him hard. He did not return the embrace. 

A moment later he put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away from him, his own face awash with pure anger. "What in the bloody hell are you two doing here?" he shouted. His words were sharp and biting. Miranda glared at him. He couldn't quite read her emotions; her eyes were smoldering. "Have the two of you lost all your senses?" Wesker continued to shout as Riley stared at him slack jawed. "Do you even realize what's plaguing this decrepit city?"

"Zombies for one thing." Riley interjected. "And these skinless thingys, and zombie dogs, and a giant Spider!" Riley waved his hands in his excitement. "Not to mention the Hunters." 

"Let's discuss those Hunters shall we, Davis? What the hell are they doing loose? I thought you had them under your control." Wesker fumed.

"I would have. But an explosion threw us out. What was I supposed to do?" Riley's voice rose. "Oh I get it. As long as good old Wesker gets the G-virus nothing else matters. Is that how it is?" Riley was yelling. 

"When death was alive and shadows long since cast…" Miranda quoted softly. The two men turned to her, all at once silent. "Death was alive…Get it? Zombies. He's talking about zombies. He must have known the T-virus capabilities all along." 

"Who?" The two men asked simultaneously. 

"Ozwell Spencer." Miranda answered absentmindedly. "Shadows. Everyone has shadows don't they, Wesker?" She looked toward Wesker her eyes a well of their past relationship. It was a look she knew that only he would understand. He titled his dark glasses to give her a narrow eyed glare. This was not the time for games. "We have to find him, Wesker. He could be the key to all of this." Miranda gestured at the city that surrounded them. In her heart she knew that this was true.

"Indeed." Wesker said softly. He'd been thinking that himself, although it was not a good time to worry with such matters. There would be ample opportunities to search for Spencer in the future but for now they all had other commitments. 

"So where to now?" Riley's question broke the Spencer spell. Wesker turned to him, settling his sunglasses back to their regular position. 

"To rest. The two of you look like the walking dead." He retorted. While Riley thought this was funny, Miranda did not. She knew what he meant and didn't appreciate the irony. 

Grady's Inn stood before them like a silent sentinel. It looked nothing like it had a few years ago. Now there was a large Umbrella logo blaring out at them like a neon sign. For some reason Miranda hated it with a fierce passion. Riley stood next to her frowning as well.

"Man, even their logo sucks." He said aloud. Miranda stared at him. "Well it does." Wesker ignored him and listened to the silence for potential dangers. Hearing nothing of interest, he took hold of Miranda's arm and led them into the building. 

The lobby was shabby and run down. A dark splatter of blood covered the wall behind the check out desk and several puddles of dried blood covered the once elegant carpeting. Plants and decorative ashtrays were overturned, their contents spilling out onto the floor. Pictures that had once hung in artistic fashion on the walls were broken and now hanging precariously. Bullet holes littered the bare places on the walls. Despite the deterioration of the lobby, memories flooded through Miranda's mind before she had a chance to stop them. 

Her first meeting with the Birkin's had been in this very lobby. They had sat in the breakfast area and she had made the decision to give them her then unborn child. On occasions when Wesker couldn't make the trip to the Arklay Mountains to see her, she had met him here. She had never hesitated to be with him, even if he left her before she woke up. 

"Wesker…no…" Miranda choked on her words and blinked back tears. "This is where…" She lost her voice in a wave of sobs. This was not the Raccoon City she'd once called home. This was an evil place the likes of which most people would never see. Wesker laid a hand on the small of her back but said nothing. 

Leaving Miranda under the watchful eye of Jacks, Wesker and Riley headed up the main stairwell, which wound its way up and broke off to continue six floors above them. Riley remained quiet until he was sure they were out of earshot. "I want a com-link, Wesker. This never would have happened if I had had one." 

"Why the hell did you drag her through the city?" Wesker growled walking down a scarcely lit hallway on the second floor. "You had no business parading her through this place. Do you realize what could have happened tonight?" 

"I understand that, Wesker. But I wasn't going to stay there and wait for that plane to blow up. We both know it did." Riley snapped. "At least I didn't leave her there to die."

Wesker nodded silently. "I'm setting a surveillance team in the basement of this hotel. I want you to head them up. I want to know everything Umbrella is planning to do before they do. I want to know how many humans are still alive. I want their names and their connections to Umbrella or otherwise." 

Riley scowled but nodded in return. "What about Miranda?" 

"I haven't decided on that yet…" Wesker answered quietly. The two of them stopped in front of a door with the number 818 imprinted in gold. Wesker opened the door and moved aside to allow Riley inside. "Tonight you sleep here. But tomorrow you'll sleep with the team in the basement." 

Riley snorted loudly and sat on the bed. "So glad to know I'm cared for." 

"Miranda likes you at least. That's more than enough to be thankful for." Wesker said. 

Riley looked at him and raised an eyebrow but decided not to push the issue. Wesker was a very secretive man who showed almost no emotions. There was no reason to bring attention to it when he did say something unusual. "How did you manage to clean this place out? Wasn't it crawling with zombies?"

Wesker held the doorknob as if he were unsure of whether he wanted to slam the door on Riley or not. Then, he smiled peevishly. "I did what I had to do." 

"All the electricity is on here. Gas and water too." Riley said factually. "I mean, don't you think someone will notice the lights on the rooms?" 

"Not to worry, Davis. I've got it all under control…" Wesker was still smiling peevishly as Riley interrupted him

"Yes, but what about zombie attacks? What about the surveillance team in the basement? How will we get away undetected?" Riley was full of questions he needed answers for. 

"Riley!" Wesker barked. "I've got operatives set up purely for the basement team's protection. Whether or not you go undetected all depends on how well you can control the situation." Wesker glared at him over the rim of his dark glasses. "Goodnight, perturbed one. Sleep tight, don't let the zombies bite." With that Wesker shut the door. Riley could still hear the nefarious laughter long after Wesker had gone.

Miranda was totally exhausted. She sat on the lobby's only remaining couch waiting for Wesker to tell her what to do next. She was too tired to even bother thinking for herself. 

Yet, she didn't want to close her eyes. Every time she did she saw the zombies. It was strange to her how truly afraid she was of those undead monsters. They frightened her more than all the other bio-monsters running around out there. She stood and looked out the hotel's large bay window. 

She could see them out there in darkness. They were nothing but a rotting pile of flesh and bone. Their minds held nothing of the spirit and life that had once inhabited their bodies. Their eyes now clouded over, white with infection and death, showed no signs of the soul trapped somewhere within. Even after their bodies had rotted to the point where they could no longer exist their souls would find no rest. There would be no peace for them…ever. 

The reason that they scared her so was the fact that they had once been human. Many of them had known her and worked with her at Umbrella. Many had spread rumors about her affair with Wesker. Many had sympathized with her. The doctor that had delivered the result of their passion was out there, most likely prowling the streets in search of a taste of the flesh he had once tried to save. By now Patty had awoken to her new form and was feasting on the remains of some other poor soul. Death would have been a mercy compared to this. There was no doubt that Umbrella had damned this entire city to its hellish end. The thought that tore at her insides the most was the knowledge that she had helped them. Because of her, an entire town of innocent people had been totally and utterly annihilated.

Albert Wesker's image appeared in the glass, shimmering like a ghost. He held out his hand for her. "Come with me, Harley." His voice was dark and seductive. She had no choice but to obey…


	9. Dangerous Liaisons

Wesker took to her to a room on the sixth floor. Mumbling something about keeping the lights low he set up candles in the bathroom so she could take a shower. Miranda agreed that a shower was a great idea. She was beginning to think she looked like zombie herself. 

She was thankful for the warm and inviting water. She stood underneath the showerhead and let the water gently caress her skin like a lover's touch. 

She thought of Riley's idea that imagining a far away place could make you feel safe. Her father had always told her to think of a time when she was truly happy. Being truly happy, to him, meant being with the people you loved. She wondered if he had thought of his "happy time" when he died. 

The very thought of her father made her sad. She missed him so badly. She'd wanted him to be there when she got her first job at Umbrella and when Sherry had been born. But due to circumstances beyond his control he was not. 

Miranda had never been able to think of her own happy time. If she were forced to answer she'd have to have said that finding Wesker alive came as close as she would ever get. Hugging her arms to her chest she hunched down and let the water cascade over her back. 

For years she and Wesker had seen one another. But to what end? She'd never quite figured out their attraction to one another. Wesker was not the type to give his affections to any woman so what had his interest been in her? And why did he leave her after she'd gone to sleep? What was it about her that would not allow him to remain with her? She had never been able to comprehend it all. 

Wesker was a dark and enigmatic a man. He was also self-centered and cruel. He frightened her. He always had. 

She had no doubt that he would do anything to get what he wanted, even if it meant using her. She secretly wondered if she'd end up being right about all these musings. Never the less, she loved him and she knew there was something that tied them together no matter how invisible it seemed. He had been her heart and soul almost from the moment she met him. 

Miranda had been given a job at Umbrella's Arklay Mountain Research lab straight out of college. She'd come home to the cold mid-western town of Raccoon City from Connecticut where she'd spent four years at Yale. She, unfortunately, did not have the resources that Alexia Ashford had had. 

She'd spent her senior graduation party trying to cope with severe sunburns and a bad boyfriend and was no mood to date for a long while.

She and Albert Wesker had met when her car had broken down just outside the city limits. In his days as a researcher Wesker had been prone to taking long drives. His temper was mostly to blame. He'd seen her and stopped. After he helped chain her vehicle to his, she climbed into the passenger side and talked to him all the way back to Raccoon City. As night fell she had agreed to go on a date with him despite her earlier resolve. It was only later that she would learn never to talk to Wesker when he was driving. 

The shower water began to run cold and Miranda turned it off, sighing loudly. Wesker's black shirt was laid neatly on the counter. The material swayed invitingly as Miranda picked it up. She held it to her nose and inhaled the scent that was unmistakably Wesker's. She'd always loved his smell. 

The hotel room was dark as Miranda eased open the door. She could barley make out the form of Albert Wesker lying stiffly on the bed. Silently she tiptoed to the bed and lay down beside him. Leaning up she kissed him on the cheek. "Goodnight." She whispered softly. Then she laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes assuming he was asleep…

Albert Wesker lay on the bed in darkness and listened as the water ran softly across Miranda's body. He could hear every tiny sigh that escaped from her lips. Closing his eyes he groaned. He wasn't sure how well he could handle this situation. 

Just when he thought he could take no more he heard the bathroom door open and Miranda pad toward the bed. He never realized how extraordinarily gorgeous she looked in his shirt. She seemed to think he was asleep. 

She had lain next to him and kissed his cheek murmuring in his ear. Laying her head on his shoulder, she sighed melodiously. Wesker could not help himself. Turning his head, he kissed her tenderly on the forehead. For a moment it appeared that she was snuggling closer to him. But then she bent down and began to kiss his stomach, her lips leaving a trail of fire in their wake. He arched his back as she continued upward, ending the torture at the base of his neck. Then she did something that surprised him. It wasn't like Miranda Harley to nibble on his ear. Sensations slammed into him, as they never had before. 

Like a wildfire raging out of control his senses swam with her scent, which was becoming overwhelming and dangerously seductive. Her soft skin and warm lips were tantalizing. The soft curve of her breasts hidden beneath his shirt suddenly made it impossible to control himself any longer. He slid his hand through her silky hair, grabbed hold, and maneuvered her beneath him. He kissed her passionately parting her lips with his tongue. He placed his hand on her inner thigh and felt her shudder.

"I need you, Wesker." She gasped against his mouth. 

"I know." He answered softly returning his lips to hers. 

"You just love it that I'm powerless against you." Miranda teased breathlessly. 

"You have no idea." Wesker told her with a dark smile. 

Riley closed his eyes and tried to sleep but for some reason he found this impossible. He hadn't told Wesker at the time but he was starving. He'd never get to sleep if his stomach continued rumbling so loudly. 

Sitting up, Riley took his magnum from the nightstand drawer and checked to see that it was still loaded. Wesker had sent a new operative uniform for him to wear. He fumbled to put it on in the dark. Lucky for him he'd seen the suit often enough to know where all the zips and buttons were. 

It seemed like the best thing to do was to search out something to eat. His only disadvantage lay in the fact that he didn't know the city too well. However, that wouldn't stop him when he was starving. 

He'd be the most terrible zombie he snickered to himself. He'd never get enough to eat. He opened the door as quietly as he could and prayed that Wesker couldn't hear him. Wherever Wesker was he hoped, at least for the moment, it was far away from him… 

Downstairs, three of the HCF operatives were lounging around in the lobby smoking cigarettes and talking softly. Riley was not surprised to see Jacks standing alone at the hotel's double glass doors cleaning his gun. 

"Machine gun?" Riley asked. He was hoping to trick Jacks into letting him outside. Jacks glared at him with dark green eyes as if he were a moron.

"It's an AK-47." He answered with a growl. 

"So…ah…you're the big cheese next to Captain Wesker?" Riley ventured. Robert Jacks was fairly tall with black stubble for hair. He was also famous for his bad attitude. Riley longed to make fun of him for all of these things. 

"Big cheese? I am not a food product and neither is Captain Wesker." He snarled. 

"Meow." Riley hissed like a cat. "Do you know what fun is?" He asked the question very slowly as Jacks features fell into an angry sneer.

"Fun would be to knock your smart-ass teeth down your throat." Jacks snapped. 

"Okay. Okay. Jeez." Riley held his hands in the air. "Listen. Wesker asked me to let you know that you needed to canvas the hotel again. He wants to make doubly sure there aren't any more zombies here." 

"Damn." Jacks growled audibly. "How many times do we have to go through this?" He stood and threw up his hands. "Karman stay here. You two come with me." He motioned to the three lounging in the lobby and they disappeared up the stairs leaving a giant dark skinned man behind. 

"So…you're ah…Karman right?" Riley asked with a frown. This was going according to his plan.

Karman was so tall Riley had to lean his head back to look into the man's face. The man glared down at him but said nothing in return. "Big strong silent type huh? We've got a lot of those running around, don't we? Except those zombies...Man, are those things loud. Sounds like my last girlfriend." The big man chuckled but remained silent. "Don't you ever talk?" Riley whined. The big man nodded. "I'll bet you fifty bucks I can make you talk." Karman shook his head. "Okay how about we up the stakes? I make you talk and you don't tell anyone you saw me leave. Deal?" 

"What do I get if I win?" Karman's voice was a deep drone. Riley started to laugh. He tried to make it sound like Wesker's, but instead it came out an absurd squeak. 

"You didn't win, now did you?" Riley turned toward the glass entrance doors and opened them, walking out as if he were the big cheese.

The air outside had turned unexpectedly cold. The breeze carried with it a chill and the stench of death. Riley imagined that it was what the inside of a coffin would smell like. He patted the gun in his pocket suddenly glad his father had believed in the importance of a man protecting his family. 

He listened for zombies, recognizing the sounds they made from his many encounters with them but heard nothing. All was silent save the occasional moan echoing through out the city streets. Nothing was in the immediate vicinity.

He saw a grocery store up ahead but decided not to risk it. The big one story building was bound to be loaded with the ghoulish monsters. He shivered at the thought. 

What he and Miranda had been through earlier that night was bad enough. He just wanted to find a few snacks, get back into the hotel, and get some sleep. He didn't want to deal with zombies or Wesker and he couldn't decide which would be worse. 

His only real option would have to be a gas station. It wasn't likely to have a whole lot of zombies inside. Plus, there was bound to be a whole stash of snacks that would normally be much too expensive. 

Not too far ahead Riley saw the very gas station he was hoping for. The Taxago was dark and silent and that never made for a good combination. Wrecked cars were piled around the gas tanks. Some of them were empty; some of them were filled with half-eaten victims. The sight was almost too much for Riley. If he hadn't been so hungry he would have headed back immediately and went to bed. He looked back toward the hotel and wondered if Karman had told them he was gone yet. For his own sake he hoped not. Wesker was bound to be very unhappy with him. 

He eased over to the broken glass of the door and slid his hand in just enough to release the lock on the other side. He'd never been a very good sleuth, but in his younger days he'd spent a lot of time pretending he was Sherlock Holmes. 

The inside of the store was immersed in blackness. Riley searched his pockets and found an economic sized flashlight. Leave it to Wesker, ever prepared for the worst. The light broke through the thickness and nearly blinded him with its suddenness. He swung the light in the direction of a long row of shelves. "Now to find something to eat..." He muttered. In his haste to find the food, Riley failed to hear a sound like wet shoes making their way ever closer to the now open gas station doors...

Jacks stood at the entrance to the laundry room on the third floor with his head cocked, listening for anything unusual. He'd been getting used to the sounds the zombies made and had no trouble spotting them, even in the dark. He only wished that he had Captain Wesker's ability to see through the blackness. Not hearing what he wanted he unlocked the door and went inside. His two underlings followed closely behind. 

He made his way through the laundry room with ease. He'd been in enough hotels in his lifetime to know the layout of every one. In high school he'd worked as a desk clerk nights and weekends just to make ends meat for his two younger sisters. 

After his parents had been killed in an automobile accident he'd taken it upon himself to care for his family. And he had, right up until the day operatives from Umbrella had burst into his home and forced him to watch as they shot his two teenage sisters in the forehead and blasted a shotgun into his stomach. He'd never understood why they'd made his sisters suffer. 

His sisters had no idea that he'd hacked into Umbrella's mainframe computer and stole some of their research. In desperation he had sold it to an opposing Corporation for an obscene amount of money. So why had they had to pay for his mistakes? He wasn't sure why he was thinking of that. He'd learned that no matter how much he thought about something, it would not change the past. 

"Come on, Boss. We was smoking down there." One of the men whined. 

"Shut up." He barked. After he'd been shot, he'd gone to the hospital in Raccoon City but the doctor's refused to help him. If it hadn't been for Albert Wesker he would have died in the middle of the street. Captain Wesker had taken him in and mended his wounds. With injuries so devastating he didn't know how he'd survived. But somehow he had. In return, Jacks had promised he would follow Wesker to the ends of the earth. 

Captain Wesker had told him that he would come looking for him if and when he needed him. That was why he was here now. He owed his life, whatever it was worth, to Albert Wesker. 

Jacks opened the door to the maintenance stairwell and the three and stepped inside. Hours had passed since they'd been down in the lobby. They had no idea that their comrade Karman was already dead…

***********************************************************

The anthill was at least a hundred feet tall. It seemed absurd to her that an anthill could possibly be that big. The ants, which scurried around the hill, were nearly as big as a normal sized man. 

Miranda Harley stood on the platform overlooking the anthill and leaned over the railing stunned by what she was seeing. It was only then that she heard footsteps clamoring up the stairway behind her. A brown haired woman appeared at the top of the stairs gasping, followed closely by…Chris Redfield. Miranda whirled on instinct and pointed her gun at Chris's head. The thing that stopped her from doing so was the heavy footsteps of something else walking straight toward her.

She turned again, catching a glimpse of a woman with gray skin, just before the woman reached out her arm and slapped Miranda so hard she fell over the railing and tumbled downward slamming into the anthill and rolling the rest of the way down. 

When she landed, the pain was almost tangible. It gripped at her insides and overwhelmed her thoughts. She couldn't breathe. Her attempt to move only made matters worse. She felt as if her entire body was broken in pieces. "Wesker." She gasped. She pushed herself up with the palms of her hands the move bringing forth a coughing fight. Blood dripped from her mouth and pooled on the floor. "Wesker." 

She fought her way to her feet, the pain intense. Above her she heard the sound of gunfire and a strange humming like a fly or a bee. Yet she couldn't stop. She had to get to Wesker. A small part of her told her she was dying, but she didn't want to face it. If she could only make it to Wesker everything would be all right. He would take care of her. 

She collapsed in the hallway, her whole body on fire. Another coughing it gripped her and more blood dripped to the floor at her feet. There was no doubt that she was going to die. 

Chris Redfield burst through the door behind her She wavered as she got her feet. She tried desperately to stay standing. Surely he would take her to Wesker despite their dramatic differences. She reached out for him, unaware that blood was seeping out of her mouth and her eyes were clouding over abnormally. 

Miranda hardly felt the pain as the gunshot ripped into her chest. "Wesker!" She screamed. She fell forward and didn't try to brace her self as she hit the ground. 

***********************************************************

Albert Wesker had been lying on his back with Miranda in his arms. His mind was filled with plans for the mission. He'd been trying to figure out a way to make sure Miranda remained safe when she began to toss and turn violently. He stared at her, his eyes narrowed. He wondered what kind of dream she was having. Reaching over, he pushed the hair away from her face. Her features told him it wasn't a pleasant one. 

"Wesker." She murmured. He kissed her forehead and continued to watch her. Miranda had always been prone to bad dreams. She'd been that way as long as he could remember. He guessed her dreams dealt with zombies that she had encountered that day and returned to his own thoughts. 

"Wesker." Her unnatural coughing brought his attention back to her. She was starting to shake erratically. Wesker reached for her shoulders intent on waking her. 

"Wesker!" Miranda's scream caught him off guard. She bolted upright in the bed and screamed again. The eerie sound echoed off the walls around them. She woke up then and turned to look at Wesker who was now sitting up beside her. She choked and threw her arms around him. Burying her face in his chest she sobbed, the motion rocking her whole body. Wesker put his arms around her and stroked her hair. 

Miranda wasn't sure whether she was crying because of her dream or because Wesker was still with her. Either way her emotions were too strong. She couldn't control them any better than she'd been able to control the Tyrant.

It was the worst nightmare she'd ever had. Although she was glad it was only a dream she knew it wasn't the last time she'd be having it. She closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of Wesker, almost falling apart when she realized how gently he was stroking her hair. 

"Wesker...I..." She wanted to explain to him how she was feeling inside but the words weren't coming. She would just have to be content to lay her head against his chest and listen to his heartbeat. 

Every part of Wesker was strong even the beat of his heart. It was one of the things she loved about him. As if sensing her thoughts, Wesker tipped her chin up with his forefinger and kissed her.

"Rest Miranda. I've got you." He whispered. She closed her eyes and took in a heavy breath. He had her all right. She nodded wordlessly. 

"I'll be all right." She told him. It was strange for him to hold her this way. In all the years they'd been together he'd never done that. She didn't know how much longer she could go on this way. Mercifully, Wesker's arms disappeared from around her and he got up. He put on his pants silently and moved to the window. His handsome features were illuminated in the eerie light. It was not hard to tell that he had changed. Wesker was a monster. Albeit it beautiful he was dangerous and wicked. Miranda watched him, wandering how one man could be so wise and yet so evil. Ozwell Spencer said that men like him were one in a million but they were the worst kind.

"Umbrella's handy work. Beautiful isn't it?" He said mockingly. Miranda hated the sharp tone to his voice. "Who would have ever thought one simple little virus could do so much damage." 

"You would." Miranda said aloud. Her voice was no more than a whisper. 

"I did." he nodded. Wesker tipped his head to the side as if listening for something. "Gunfire." He said at last…

Riley had just dug into a box of Cracker Jacks, laughing at the irony of the name, when he heard the crunching of glass. He grabbed for his gun, the box falling to the floor. Squinting, he searched for the source of the noise and saw a lone zombie lumbering towards him. He held up the gun and prepared to fire, unaware that there were two more of the undead behind him…reaching for him...

Jacks ran down the main stairwell, his senses screaming. Something was wrong. Jumping off the railing on the third floor he landed easily on the first. He hadn't even thought about the feat he'd just accomplished. His men continued on the stairs above him, speechless.

Jacks looked toward the entrance to the hotel and found that all the glass had been broken out. The body of Karman was laid out in several pieces near the check-in desk, blood splattered on the walls. He knew that he needed to report the situation to Captain Wesker but he also knew he needed more information before attempting it. 

Something dripped down from the ceiling and splattered on the toe of his boot. It looked too dark to be water. "What the..." Looking up, Jacks saw the answer to his question. A creature the size of a human man was above him its tongue stretched out to touch his cheek. It was slobbering hungrily. "Lickers!" He shouted a warning to the two underlings that did not hear him and would never make it down the stairs. 

He pulled the trigger on his AK-47, succeeding only anger the creature. It fell off the ceiling and headed straight toward him. Jacks held down the trigger, the gunfire peppering into the walls and the Licker. It screeched deafeningly and flipped backward kicking and writhing until all at once it was still. 

"Heyman...Richt…Answer me." He pushed at the com-link on his ear but got no response. Most likely there were more Lickers in the area and his men were dead. He sent a warning signal to the crew in the basement and waited for a response.

"Fine here, sir. We'll be on the look out." The answer came quickly, much to his relief. Looking back toward the doorway, he wondered where that smart-ass scientist had gone. Surely he was smart enough to go back up stairs and not outside. Turning back to the stairs, he reluctantly sent the com-link message to Captain Wesker. 

The zombie fell to its knees and groaned loudly as Riley sighed with relief. Before he could react, however, a zombie grabbed him by the waist and began to drag him to the floor. Riley couldn't maneuver himself to point the gun at the monster. Shouting an obscenity he kicked at another zombie who was grabbing for his leg. He felt it sink its teeth into him and he screamed, kicking harder. The other zombie pushed its weight on him and he stumbled and fell. The zombie fell on top of him heavily. Riley could feel the nearness of its teeth as it gnashed at him. The other zombie was beginning to chew on his leg and he suddenly realized that he was going to die. He cried out desperately. Hoping that if he couldn't be saved someone would kill him before he ended up like these two. 

Gunshots rang out. One of the bullets catching the zombie in the forehead, just as it knelt to have his neck as a snack. It fell on top of the one already on him and Riley choked, the air rushing out of him quicker than he wanted it to. The zombie at his leg was still chewing and the pain was becoming excruciating. Another volley of bullets erupted around him and the zombie at his leg fell dead. Riley wasn't so hungry anymore. 

His conscious was fading quickly as his savior leaned over him. She was beautiful with short dark hair and wonderful full lips. "Ada." He ground out before the darkness overtook him. 

The com-link in Wesker's ear beeped loudly and he answered instantly. Miranda wasn't sure but he didn't look happy about what he was hearing. "Where are they?" his voice was laden with anger. "Stay there. I'm on my way." he turned to Miranda and sneered, picking up his shirt from the floor and dressing quickly. 

"Wesker," Miranda didn't know what had possessed her to confront him when he was looking at her the way he was now. "We need to find Sherry. She must be so..."

"No!" Wesker roared suddenly. "You will stay here." Miranda gathered the sheet around her and stood. 

"I can't Wesker..."She started. 

Wesker shot towards her and grabbed her by the elbows. "You will listen to me closely, Harley." He told her through gritted teeth. "You will stay in this room until I return. No matter what you hear you will not leave this room. And get Sherry out of your mind. The little girl is most likely dead. Leave it be!" He tossed her to the floor and stormed to the door. "Do not leave this room, Harley." With that he was gone the slam of the door still ringing in her ears. 

Determinedly, Miranda stood and got dressed. If Wesker wouldn't help her find her daughter she'd do it on her own. She glanced at herself in the mirror as she reached for her gun. She had to admit that she didn't look too bad in the HCF uniform. Her dark hair fit the outfit perfectly. She slipped the gun into the holster at her hip and made sure she had extra ammunition. She left the hotel room and slipped down the hallway to the fire escape on the far widow. "I'm coming, baby." She said softly, slipping off into the grayness of Raccoon City's dawn.


	10. Infected Rain

Wesker was in the lobby sooner than he realized. Jacks stood in the breakfast area behind the stairs his gun trained on a strange creature on the other side of the window. It was tapping on the glass with massive claws, hissing at him. 

"Jacks!" Wesker shouted. Jacks turned and the creature broke through the glass, running on all fours straight toward him. Jacks turned to shoot the creature lighting quick, the heavy fire sending the beast sailing back through the window. 

Wesker smiled in spite of himself. He'd made a good decision in using this boy as a test subject. He had proved himself time and again. 

"Sir." Jacks' chest was heaving. "The clean up crew is dead." 

"Dead?" Wesker asked, raising an eyebrow. "What happened?"

"Riley Davis came down and told me you wanted us to canvass the Hotel again. I left Karman to guard the entrance. I took Heyman and Richt with me. I'm not sure what went wrong but..." He pointed at the multitude of body parts that had once belonged to a very large dark skinned man by the name of Ronnie Karman. 

"Where is Riley Davis?" Wesker ground out through his teeth. He was not pleased with this staggering turn of events. They were not to his liking at all. 

"Not sure, Captain. I left him in the lobby with Karman." The slap caught Jacks by surprise and sent him flying. He hit the wall behind check-in desk and fell to the floor. When he stood up Wesker was gone.

Wesker kicked open the door to Riley's room and scowled. It was empty. He could tell that without having to search the room that his uniform was gone as well. The growl was nearly a roar as he shot back down the stairs and grabbed Jacks, hefting him in the air. "Any order given by me will come directly from me. Do you understand?" His eyes were blazing. "If I had wanted you to canvass the hotel again I would have told you so myself." His rage was barley restrained as he squeezed Jacks' throat. "If he is dead, I will see to it that you are too." He let go and dropped Jacks fall to the floor, where he lay for several seconds, gasping in silence. "Get some of your men and we will go look for him." Wesker said contemptuously. Jacks did as he was told, silently cursing the mischief-maker that had caused all this havoc.

Gradually, the light returned to Riley's eyes. He moaned and rolled onto his side. The light brought with it pain. But this time, the pain was not only in his leg; it had crept up into his stomach. 

"So, you're awake." It was she, the voice he had once strained to hear. She rarely ever talked. 

"Ada." He said softly. His voice came out a squeak and he was instantly embarrassed. She had patched up his leg, he noticed as he attempted to sit up. The bandage was wet with blood. He reached down and began to unravel the gauze nearly choking as he saw the skin around the wound was turning a strange gray. He recognized the symptoms rather easily. He was infected with the T-virus. He wondered how long he had been unconscious. He needed to know to find out how much longer he had to live. The thought was unsettling. "How long...?" 

"About an hour." Ada answered. She sat on a stool across from him, cleaning her gun. He only had an hour left? With his leg the way it was, they wouldn't make it to a laboratory in time for him to mix up an antidote. He swallowed hard and sighed. He wished he'd listened to Wesker and not his stomach. 

"Well then..." Riley grinned to himself. At least he might have a chance to be happy before he died. "How about a date?" 

"A date?" Ada's head came up and she stared at him. "I don't know." 

"Okay. How about you act like you're my girlfriend then." Riley coaxed.

"Your girlfriend?" She sighed loudly, rolling her eyes. "Okay." She shrugged after a long moment of silence.

"How about giving your estranged boyfriend a kiss..." Riley ventured. Ada smiled ruefully and stood up. She sat next to him and patted his arm. 

"You shouldn't have removed the bandage." She kissed him on the cheek.

Riley had the odd urge to bite her on the arm. Not a bite…just a nibble. He wanted a nibble. He wasn't thinking about it in an amorous way either. He was hot and the skin around the wound was beginning to itch. He wasn't thinking straight and he knew it. 

"I can't..." Her face jumbled and stretched as his mind played games with him. He didn't like this game. But he was hungry. So very hungry... 

Miranda ran through the alley way as fast as she could. She'd seen something shaped like a child scuttle through an open window. "Sherry?" She gasped. Her hair had fallen out of the rubber band she'd put it in and flew wildly around her face. 

She climbed into the window and tumbled into a dark living room. She reached for her flashlight. "Sherry. Come on baby. It's me...Aunt Miranda." Aunt sounded so funny…considering. It hurt for her daughter to think she was some distant relative. Even though "Auntie" was the first words she'd ever said. It wasn't the same 

The flashlight revealed only the dead body of what seemed to be a man, but without a head it was hard to tell. She shivered. No kind of zombie could have killed him. "Sherry?" She asked again. Her words echoed strangely in the room. She searched every room but found nothing. Either Sherry had already escaped or Miranda had followed something else into its den. 

She heard the clicking and turned her light towards it. The Hunter was no taller than Sherry. It screeched loudly and jumped at her. For a moment Miranda was frozen. Luckily something inside her snapped her back into awareness and she sprinted for the window, feeling a rush of air on the back of her neck as the talons passed over her. She dived out the window and ran. "A baby Hunter. My god..." She realized what it was and the blow seemed almost physical. The Hunter's were reproducing...

The new clean up crew was advancing slowly as Wesker tried to think of where Riley might have gone. Knowing him, he had probably gone off looking for something to eat. That thought helped him almost as much as not knowing anything. There were plenty of grocery stores and gas stations, not to mention all the other places he could find food, littered around the city. 

Jacks had taken a team to the other side of the town in search of him. He had also been instructed to see if he could locate the monster in the sewers. With the whole city gone awry and communications cut short Wesker hadn't had the chance to keep track of it. However, he knew deep down that the monster was he old "friend" William Birkin. What he couldn't quite figure out, however, was why he was still in the city. "Sir." Jacks' voice squelched on his com-link. "The police are gathering on this side of town. They seem to be setting up a barrier..." The transmission crackled and popped. "SWAT is here...Zombies are everywhere...They can't...Moving to higher ground..." 

So what remained of the police department thought they could defeat a city full of zombies? What fools. Wesker laughed aloud and several members of the crew turned to look at him. His com-link squelched again. "Captain." It was Jacks. His voice sounded quieter, as if he were closer to them. "Three members of our crew are dead. Communications are coming through from Umbrella. They're sending in a Bio-Hazard Countermeasure team to clean up the mess. They'll arrive within the hour." 

"Watch for them." Wesker replied. "It's imperative that we find Davis and return to the basement." 

"Still looking, Sir. There's no sign of him on our end. I'll try Wong. Maybe she's got something." Wesker agreed and sent his team into the nearby grocery store. Gunshots filled the air almost instantly. He waited by the entrance watching as his the operatives searched the store, destroying zombies in their wake. 

"No sign of him, sir." a man shouted toward the back. They followed him out and began to make their way to the Taxago not far ahead. 

"Captain." Jacks voice was urgent. "Wong says she's found him but..." Communication cut out and Wesker growled. On top of all his other troubles, Riley was now with Ada Wong and it wasn't where Wesker wanted him at all. 

Riley groaned loudly. He was still itching fiercely. Ada had taken a damp cloth and began wiping his forehead with it. She was watching him now. Her dark eyes looking him up and down. The com-link in her ear beeped and she answered it.

"Yes. He's here. But…" She paused and looked at him. "He's not himself." Riley's whole body was on fire. He wanted to itch it. He wanted her to itch it. He wanted to lie on a bed of nails and let them itch it. 

He was hungry but his stomach wasn't growling. Still cleaning her gun, Ada stayed on the other side of the room, away from him. "I understand. We'll wait for you."

Ada's voice was distorted and sounded almost like a trashcan he'd seen as a kid.

"I'm Leo the Paper Eating Lion," He muttered to himself. "I'm hungry. Feed me!" He shouted. "I eat everything…trash…gum wrappers…flesh…" Riley lay back down, weak. "Yeah. Flesh…"

Miranda was lost. She'd never known Raccoon City had so many twists and turns, not to mention all the secret passages and entranceways. Standing at the gates to city, she'd discovered to her ire that the gates were locked. Studying the clock on the right side told her why. Two of the twelve gems were missing and without them all, the clock would not function. She thought about climbing the walls but realized they were too high and she was not Wesker. 

She didn't want to look around her either. This particular street was filled with dead bodies; some pilled against each other, some sitting up against the sides of buildings and wrecked cars. One man was lying half way beneath a fire truck. 

She swallowed hard. What was her daughter seeing? She hoped it wasn't as bad as this. For a moment she wondered if Sherry was afraid. Then she realized after years of watching this child, she was as brave as her father. 

Sherry was all right. Miranda just needed to find her and fast. She had a feeling that critical things were beginning to happen here. Surely Umbrella knew about all this and was planning to do something about it. 

Almost as if they had heard her thoughts, a helicopter flew by overhead with the words U.M.B. printed in white letters on the side. The Umbrella Bio-Hazard Countermeasure Team was being sent in. She knew that Umbrella would set up a team like that. They'd been talking about it when the whole incident at the mansion began. Even then they knew what the T-virus was capable of. 

What were they trying to prove by letting an entire city be overtaken? Was Riley right? Was this all related to warfare? All at once, she hated Umbrella more than she'd ever hated anything in her life. Because of their lust of the Ultimate Bio Weapon, her whole world had been destroyed. She'd lost the Wesker she'd once known and now she may have very well have lost her daughter. _Umbrella must pay_, she decided to herself, _if not for me then for Wesker and Sherry_. She would do it herself if she had to. 

A door behind her opened and slammed with a metallic bang. She turned with her gun held high, ready for the monster that was sure to attack her. Instead, a woman stood opposite her with a gun raised. It was a woman that she recognized, and a woman she wanted dead. 

Jacks stood atop an abandoned restaurant and watched as the remaining police and SWAT members were picked apart by zombies. A part of him wanted to laugh inanely. This city deserved what was happening to it. He had no doubt about that. They had not helped him when he was near death and he saw no reason to help them now. They were all doomed anyway. The Military had blocked off all escape routes from the city. Even if these men and women survived the attack, sooner or later they would get eaten. And Jacks was glad. 

He motioned for his team to get off the roof and head back to the basement of the hotel. He had been thinking a lot about finding the monster in the sewers and taking it on himself but that was not what Captain Wesker had told him to do. 

When they found that smart-ass scientist, Jacks was going to give him a piece of his mind, and it wasn't the nice piece either. He couldn't understand why Captain Wesker thought it was so important to keep that annoying man alive. Granted, he had a wide array of knowledge about the Bio monsters, but there were bound to be a hundred more just like him. He leapt from atop the building, leaving the police behind him the last of their gunfire fading as the rain began to fall. 

Wesker kicked the back door to the Taxago and was almost blinded by the light. The room was a lot brighter than he had expected it to be. Ada was leaning against a wall on the far side, polishing her gun with an old shop rag. She nodded as Wesker walked into the room and looked toward Riley. 

Riley Davis was naturally pale skinned, but now, his skin had taken on a grayish tint and that didn't bode well. He was lying on his back looking toward the ceiling mumbling incoherently. He was itching himself on the chest thoughtlessly. 

"Hey Wesker," He said calling out from his darkness. His voice was weak and pathetic. 

Riley reached out his hand and Wesker noticed with disdain that the skin under his nails was green. "What the hell happened to him?" 

Ada showed little interest in the subject as she answered. "He was bitten by a zombie. He's been steadily getting worse." Behind his dark glasses, Wesker narrowed his eyes. He didn't like her attitude.

"And? What have you done about it?" His voice was abrupt and angry.

"What do you want me to do? I'm not equipped with the knowledge to do anything for him." Ada snapped. "I should have killed him." 

"Wesker…make it stop…it itches…itchy…" the mumble was nearly a scream. He looked toward Wesker. At all at once he noticed that Riley's eyes were milky white.

Wesker grabbed hold of Riley's forearm and held it out, studying the veins. His blood was running thin. There was very little time left before he was one of the undead. 

"Get up." Wesker said, lifting Riley by the arm. Riley shrieked and clawed at him. "Ada let's go." He ordered. He set Riley on his feet but he cried out in agony and stumbled. Wesker looked down and for the first time he noticed Riley's leg. The skin was gray and falling off. The blood, which should have flowed freely from the deep wound, was nonexistent. It wasn't hard to see the shattered bones inside the wound.

"Wesker, please no more. Make it stop." He moaned the sound unnatural and unfamiliar even to himself. Picking Riley up, Wesker carried him outside. The young man was losing consciousness again but this time would be his last. Ada followed closely without saying anything. 

The rain was coming down in torrents as Wesker started back to the hotel basement. Riley opened his eyes and smiled. "Tut...tut it looks like rain."

"Yes. It does." Wesker answered slowly. 

"Christopher Robin said that." Riley told him quietly. "Winnie the Pooh…" He sang softly. Riley couldn't force himself to tell Wesker he was afraid.


	11. Rendezvous with Destiny

"Valentine!" The dark haired woman shouted. Jill Valentine dived for the ground as a bullet flew over her head and sank into the brick wall behind her. Jill glanced toward the woman in shock. She recognized that voice…but from where? The gun went off again and Jill ran for cover. "Come back here!" 

Jill stared at the woman from behind a nearby oil barrel. That voice belonged to the woman in the underground laboratory at the Arklay Mansion. The memories came flooding back so quickly they were staggering. 

The pale woman had been standing in the shadows of the lab, gripping a nearby desk until her knuckles were white. Out of the corner of her eye Jill had watched the woman's agony. When the Tyrant had broken out of its glass chamber and killed Wesker, the woman had screamed as if her entire life were dying with him. The last time Jill saw her, the woman was holding Wesker's head in her lap stroking his hair and crying. At the time she'd been in a tremendous hurry to get away from the Tyrant and hadn't realized who the dark haired woman was.

But now, as the woman was firing off more rounds into the barrel, Jill knew exactly who she was. "Miranda Harley?" she asked loudly. Mercifully, her voice stopped the gunfire. 

Jill had often heard rumors that Captain Wesker was having some sort of liaison with a mysterious woman. This woman supposedly traveled great distances just to see him. Jill had never seen the two of them together so she had assumed the rumors were false. Obviously, she had been very wrong. 

Miranda Harley narrowed her eyes and continued to point the gun at the barrel. "It's funny. Somehow I thought the S.T.A.R.S. were braver than this." She changed the clip in her gun and continued firing.   
No matter how much Jill wanted to face this woman, she couldn't. She still felt guilty over the death of Wesker. Even if he had turned against them and was planning to let the Tyrant destroy them. It had been no way for a man to die. She'd run away with the knowledge that he was still, if only for a few fleeting moments, somewhat alive. 

Rain began to fall around them, pounding out its own death rhythm. Jill Valentine fully understood why this woman was shooting at her. Miranda Harley wanted revenge… 

Jacks and his crew had made it back to the hotel basement few moments before Wesker. He had been briefed on the situation and instructed them all to be prepared for the worst. It seemed that the smart-ass scientist was turning into a zombie. If they could not save him, the surveillance team was instructed to kill him immediately. It would not do for the basement team to become a roomful of zombies. 

He would have questioned the Captain's motives for saving the scientist if he didn't know any better. For one thing, that slap he'd received in the lobby had taught him not to contest anything Wesker said or did. The only person he'd ever seen get away with it successfully was that black haired beauty, Miranda Harley. 

Thinking about her reminded him that he was supposed to go up to the sixth floor and retrieve her. Hopefully, she had been smart enough to stay in her room and wait for them.

His arrival at the open door told him he'd hoped for too much. He stepped inside and searched for any sign of a struggle. Besides the bed sheets being in a tangle on the floor there was none. He looked for the gun Wesker had given her and was not surprised to find it missing as well. Groaning, he could already feel his jaw beginning to hurt. Captain Wesker was not going to like this at all. 

Riley had stopped talking. His breath was slowed significantly and the grayness had overtaken his entire body by the time they reached Grady's Inn. Wesker wasn't even sure if the young man was still awake even though his white eyes were open. 

Riley moaned tumultuously. The sound came from deep within his throat. Wesker knew that only a few minutes remained. Ada was following behind slowly, acting bored. He was not in the mood to deal with her at the moment.

They were all thoroughly drenched when they walked into the hotel. The surveillance room was alive with activity as he walked through the door. Several of the technicians stopped to acknowledge him, but he didn't respond. The two people he had expected to be there were not. 

Miranda still held the gun in the air when something crashed behind her. Shocked she did a half turn, the gun nearly tumbling from her fingers.

The creature was huge. Eight feet tall with broad shoulders and skin pulled back from his teeth and gums the monster was staring toward the barrel intently. Miranda wasn't sure exactly how she knew that, since the creature only had one eye. The other side of his face was patched with metal staples that disappeared around the top of his head. 

"S.T.A.R.S." His mouth opened ever so slightly as he gurgled out the words. The downpour was becoming steadily worse, but the creature didn't seem to notice. Miranda stared at the beast again and the realization hit her with the fury of a hurricane. 

"Nemesis." She said the creature's name almost gladly. Before the incident at the mansion, she had been working on this creature. It had been a side project Umbrella had started her on. At the time she didn't know why. Watching the Nemesis as he swayed ever so slightly, she knew. Umbrella had used her to create him so they could steal her research and claim her Nemesis as their own. 

"S.T.A.R.S." The Nemesis said and began walking with great lumbering steps toward the barrel. Miranda continued to stare at it as it stopped and looked down at her. All at once there seemed to be a glimmer in its eye as if it recognized her. But then, it swung its gigantic arm and hit Miranda in the side of the head. She went flying into the overturned fire truck. Sinking painfully into an icy puddle, she saw Jill Valentine sprinting for the gate before her world faded to black. 

Jacks had the odd feeling that someone was watching him. When he turned he caught the glimpse of a Licker slithering down the hall away from him. He entertained the idea of telling Captain Wesker that a Licker had killed the woman but his mind was advising him against it. The Captain would know the truth. And beside that, it wasn't a good idea to lie to a man like Albert Wesker.

Even after the Licker had disappeared through the open window at the end of the hall the feeling remained with him. He followed the Licker to the window and looked down. Aside from a few zombies and the patter of the falling rain, the street below was quiet. 

"Where is she?" Wesker's voice cut through the silence like a knife. His words were curt. Jacks turned to look at him, somehow picking up his angry expression even in the blackness. "Where is she?" He repeated. Albert Wesker's eyes were gleaming. In Jacks' mind he saw a cobra as it reared back to strike. He considered the Licker story again. 

"I don't know." It was the only answer he could force out of his brain and his mouth. He knew it wouldn't matter. Captain Wesker would hold him responsible no matter what he said. 

Wesker stood still a moment and Jacks watched him closely, aware that like a snake the Captain could strike at any time. And he was right. The kick caught him in the stomach and sent him sailing out the window behind him. Jacks had the fleeting thought that he was about to die when his body hit the pavement below and he blacked out.

Riley was beginning to come to. His skin wasn't itching anymore and it didn't hurt to breathe. He wondered if he were dead. It would have been the only logical explanation. His leg still hurt however. There was no denying that. 

He opened his eyes and someone shouted. "Well there you are." 

"All right!" Several more voices chorused but for some reason he couldn't quite focus his eyes enough to put faces with names. 

"Holy shit! He did it!" Someone else shouted. "That Wesker's a genius. A friggin genius!" 

"I wouldn't say that too loud." Riley said. "He might kill you for being nice." The room laughed as his eyes slowly came to focus. Six men lounged around him, each wearing the standard HCF uniforms. "Hey guys. Good to see you." They laughed. "You don't know how good."

The oldest man with gray hair reached out and patted Riley on the shoulder. "If you were hungry, son, you should have come down here."

"No kidding." Another man said. This man's hair looked almost green. "We've got a whole freezer full of food." Everyone started talking at once, naming off all the foods that were in the freezer. 

"All right!" Riley sat up and waved his hands in front of them. "I'm already going to kick myself with my good leg when I get better. You guys don't have to make it worse. Jeez." They laughed again.

"Where the hell is she?" Wesker's shout filled the room with silence. "Get on the surveillance and find out where she is!" He snarled. "I should kill you both." He glanced toward Riley, his eyes flashing. 

The man with the gray hair pulled up a screen on a monitor near him and nodded. "I think I've found her, Captain." 

**********************************************************

The sun was shinning brightly and Miranda had to squint her eyes against the brilliance. She could hear birds singing and feel a cool breeze ruffling her hair. A child giggled somewhere ahead of her. 

"Aunt Miranda come play with me!" A child ran toward her and through the brightness she saw her daughter. Miranda fell to her knees and threw her arms around Sherry. Her breath caught in her throat. "Aunt Miranda?" The child sounded almost afraid. 

"Sherry…baby…You're safe. Oh sweetie." Miranda was crying. 

"Of course I am silly!" The little girl giggled. "I got a Barbie doll. Want to see her?" Miranda nodded soundlessly as Sherry took her hold of her hand and skipped toward a white house surrounded with maple trees. She recognized the house as the one the Birkins had lived in when Sherry was five years old.

On the sprawling porch, Annette Birkin was handing a glass of lemonade to her husband. How could she be here and remember everything that hadn't even happened yet? 

William waved to her and motioned that she sit down next to him. Sherry looked up at her and smiled. "It's okay. I'll bring the Barbie to you." She smiled back and squeezed Sherry's shoulder. 

"That would be nice." Annette handed her a glass and Miranda sat next to William still smiling. _Perhaps_, she thought, _I'm dead_. If so, she wasn't sure if she could think of a better place to spend eternity. 

"Thank you so much for giving us Sherry, Miranda. We can't tell you how much you've blessed us." William patted her arm. "You'll never know."

Miranda sat in silence listening to the wind rustle through the trees. No, they would never know. They would never know the anguish she went through every day because she'd given her daughter to someone else. Seeing her daughter like this nearly killed her. Yet she would never stay away from her, unless Wesker got suspicious.

She wasn't sure if she could stay here or not. In a sense, this was her own personal hell, an eternity where her daughter would never call her "mommy".

Sherry returned with a black haired doll that looked much like Miranda. She handed it to her. "I even have a Ken to match." Sherry announced proudly. From behind her back, she pulled out a Ken doll that looked just like Wesker, right down to the glowing red eyes. Without knowing why, Miranda stood and grabbed the Ken and pitched it out into the yard where it landed beside a birdbath, alone. 

Sherry and William stared at her as if she'd lost her mind. She felt that way. But something about that doll had set her on edge. Something wasn't right in this quiet world and she was acutely aware of it. 

"Miranda, honey, why don't you sit down." It was not a question but an order from Annette. As Miranda watched, horrified, the Ken/Wesker doll stood up and began walking back towards them. 

"Miranda!" The roar seemed to come from the sky and shake the entire world. No one else seemed to notice. She stood stock still petrified. "Harley, you fool." Miranda reached for Sherry but came up short as the porch dropped away from her and once again her world was filled with darkness.

********************************************************

Jacks got to his feet and coughed haggardly. The pain that had swept over his body mere moments ago was now ebbing away. He didn't know how long he'd been lying there. Looking back up at the six-story hotel, he grimaced. How had he survived that fall? His mind was a jumble of suddenly unanswered questions.

Captain Wesker walked past him and snapped his fingers. Jacks stumbled toward him, the world spinning for a moment then readjusting itself. Wesker didn't seem surprised to see him alive. 

The rain poured over them as the Captain gave out orders. Jacks was to take a crew into the sewers to locate the monster. Jacks nodded gladly. He was happy with the prospect of taking on something a lot bigger than those zombies were. 

He ordered his crew to move out before turning back to Captain Wesker. Something told him that the Captain would know why he had not died a few moments ago. Strangely enough he wasn't in any pain. 

As if he knew what Jacks was thinking Wesker raised an eyebrow and smiled nefariously. "Later Jacks. Later." 

Wesker found the City Gates where they'd located Miranda with little trouble. Even the zombies had seemed to slack off. It almost seemed as if they too were trying to stay out of the rain. His crew stayed close together and he was disappointed with them. None of them had the caliber of Jacks. 

He wasn't too happy with himself either for that matter. He'd lost his temper. Sooner or later the boy would start asking questions and that was certainly not a wise idea. 

His eyes fell on Miranda's gun lying in a muddy puddle in the street and he leaned down to pick it up. He never should have given her that gun. It had once belonged to Chris Redfield. 

"Miranda!" He roared. He was suddenly angry. If the two of them had listened to him none of this would have happened. He'd wasted a lot of time and manpower on these two. He finally saw her lying motionless in the mud. The side of her face was badly bruised. For a moment he was afraid she was dead. The fact that her chest was moving ever so slightly gave him a rush of unbidden relief. 

"Harley, you fool." He knelt to pick her up, gently placing his hands beneath her and cradling her gently in his arms.

"Sherry!" Miranda cried out, her eyes still tightly shut. Wesker turned to the crew pretending he hadn't heard her.

"Join Jacks' team in the sewers and be careful. There's more than just that monster down there." The team dispersed as Wesker carried Miranda back to the hotel. 

Riley sat propped against the wall and studied his leg. There would be no saving it. The skin was rotted away down to the bone. He had to find a way to patch up the hole so it would be easier for him to walk. Frowning, he realized that he would forever walk with a limp. 

"Do you suppose it's easier to pick up chicks if they feel sorry for you?" He asked anyone who would answer him. 

"Oh sure. Chicks love those poor handicapped men." The gray haired man said looking up from a monitor. 

"Try the retard act. You get laid easier that way." The man with the green hair smiled at him. 

"Basin? You there?" the voice of Jacks filled the Surveillance room. The gray haired man pushed a com-link button at his computer.

"Yeah. What do you got?" Basin asked. Riley could see a black and white image of Jacks on the control panel to his right. 

"It looks like the bodies of the Umbrella task force but I'm not sure. There's an open brief case here with several broken vials and some type of substance is leaking into the waterway." Jacks scratched his cheek. Standing, Riley hobbled to the com-link responder.

"Don't touch them. It's the remains of the T and G-virus cells." Riley told him. 

"Who asked you smart-ass?" Jacks shot back. Riley frowned and thought about putting up his middle finger but what good would it do if Jacks couldn't see him? 

"I just thought you might want to know that the viruses are far more dangerous from contact than anything else." He said at last. 

"Is that your official word on it Captain Zombie?" Riley could hear several of the operatives laughing in the background. He was doing his best to control his temper. 

"Look…" He started.

"No you look…I need an exact location on the monster, not a chemistry lesson." Jacks interrupted with a snap.

"Tracking." Basin said in a flat tone. "There. He's…oh my god…Jacks get a move on. He's headed straight…" Before Basin could finish the surveillance room was filled with the sound of gunfire followed in close succession by static. Riley looked up toward the monitors and found that they had lost the transmission.

Riley pushed Basin out of the way and typed frantically at the main computer, trying desperately to get the com-link between them working if nothing else. For the moment the pain in his leg was not a factor. 

"Basin, what's going on? I've lost communications with Jacks." This time, the voice of Wesker that filled the room. 

"That monster in the sewers attacked them, sir," Riley answered. "I'm trying to reestablish contact now."

"Fine. I'm leaving Harley in a safe location. Send a crew to retrieve her. I'm headed to the sewers." Wesker told him. Riley didn't reply. He'd pulled up an image on the monitor and it wasn't a pleasant one. 

The sewer stank with the putrid smell of waste and death. Jacks lay in the stagnant water, which was turning an unusual red. Strangely enough, even after the monster had attacked him, he was in no pain. But his crew...

Standing, he found the sewer littered with the bodies of his former teammates. The monster, however, was gone. They hadn't defeated it, but he had discovered who the monster was and basically what it was after. Perhaps Captain Wesker would be pleased. 

He was soaking wet, but water was not the only thing that clung to his uniform. Blood was drying quickly and caking on the shirtfront. His shirt was ripped in three aligned places from shoulder to hip. He tore the shirt off and threw it to the ground, the water rippling forcefully with the motion. 

The rips were not only on his shirt he surmised. His chest was gashed open as well. He ran his fingers along the wounds and felt the warm blood, but he was not suffering. Jacks mind was once again a jumble of unanswered questions.

The monster's roar brought his mind full scale back to the sewers and to his responsibilities. He pressed the com-link in his ear. "You there, Basin?" He was not about to ask that smart-ass for anything.

"Jacks!" The voice he got was the very one he didn't want. "You okay?" 

"What do you think?" He grumbled. "Basin. Send in a clean up crew. My men are dead." 

"Wesker's on his way. Wait for him." Riley told him. 

"Damn." Jacks muttered. "Thanks for the warning, smart-ass." 

"Glad to help out." Riley ended the transmission just as Wesker strode into the sewer way. 

The three men Basin had sent to retrieve Miranda came back and one of them laid her on a cot next to Riley's. She was still unconscious as Riley hobbled over to her and placed a cold compress to her bruised face. 

"Girl, I think we're in trouble." He said softly. "Wesker's not to happy with us."

"I know." Miranda answered painfully. She opened her eyes slowly and smiled at Riley. "He grumbled at me all the way to that place." She couldn't quite remember where he'd put her. Thankfully, he had been wise enough to leave her somewhere safe. 

"Well, I'm glad you're okay. But listen. If you were hungry…You should have come down here!" He started out quietly but ended with an exaggerated shout that brought out a room full of laughter. 

"I wasn't hungry, Riley. My daughter is out there!" She burst out before she thought about it. Riley stared at her for a lingering moment until he finally made the connection. 

"So, this Sherry you've been talking about…isn't Birkin's…She's yours?" He whispered harshly. Miranda closed her eyes and sighed. At last she nodded. 

"Riley, I trust you. Please don't tell anyone." Miranda whispered quietly, almost pleadingly. "Don't say anything. Please."

Riley nodded and smiled. "I won't, M, I swear." They were silent as they stared at each other. "You were looking for her right? That's why you left." 

"He…" Miranda swallowed hard. "He doesn't care…He told me to stay put. How can I? My daughter's alone in a city full of monsters and I can't find her."

"We will. I promise. You and I can find her on the equipment here. Then, I'll go get her. We can't risk losing you again. Wesker wouldn't stand for that." He patted her arm gently. 

"Thanks, Riley." Miranda said. She wasn't sure what else to say. In a way she felt relived not to bare her burden alone anymore. Riley stood and smiled again. 

"Don't worry about it, M." He began limping away. Miranda sat up and grabbed his arm.

"What happened to you?" She asked in concern. 

"Oh, just a little zombie nibble. Nothing big." He shrugged. She looked down at his leg and gasped. Riley's cheeks colored and he pulled the leg of his pants down. "Haven't you ever seen a naked leg before?" Miranda continued to stare at him. "I was hungry. Okay?" He shouted. "You don't have a lot of room to talk." He pointed to her face.

"Nemesis." She said suddenly, touching her cheek. "Oh god. We've got to tell Wesker."

Albert Wesker studied Jacks for a few moments before raising an eyebrow. Jacks stared at him in return but said nothing. For the time being, there was nothing to be said. 

"What did you find out?" Wesker inquired, walking farther into the sewers. He didn't look back as if he expected Jacks to follow. 

"The monster is indeed William Birkin. His body has changed dramatically, but some part of his face is still visible." Jacks could see the monster clearly as if it were standing in front of him. He silently retched. 

"I see. What about it's combat data? How easy will it be for us to obtain it?" Wesker handed him the handgun he'd taken from his vest pocket.

"Not that easy. He's quick and malicious. Not to mention enormous. The team you sent in lasted a total of twenty-three seconds. He decimated them and went after mine. They lasted a whole minute before Birkin annihilated them." He checked the clip and placed the gun, barrel first, into the waistband of his pants. 

Jacks had started to add that he wasn't sure why he was still alive but thought better of it as Wesker spoke. "We need to stop wasting manpower on this. What we need is a target." Jacks agreed wholeheartedly. He didn't mention to the Captain who he thought would make an excellent mark. "We'll go back to the basement Surveillance room and see what we can find." 

"Wesker." Her voice filled his ears and he stood still a moment, pleased by the sound. He shook the feeling away instantly.  
"Yes, Harley?" Much to his vexation, Wesker's own voice sounded almost gentle. He had to remind himself that he was still furious with her. 

"They've sent the Nemesis. I've seen it. It's going after Jill Valentine." Miranda told him haltingly as if she were afraid to say anything. 

"Jill Valentine? Well good." Wesker said aloud. "See that Basin sends a team out to collect the Combat data and ensure that Jill doesn't survive her rendezvous with the Nemesis."

"Wesker, there's more…" Miranda began.

"Save it." He instructed her. "We're on our way." Turning back to Jacks, he smiled wickedly. "This game has just gotten a little more intriguing hasn't it?"


	12. A Break from the Madness

Miranda Harley sat anxiously awaiting Albert Wesker's return. She wasn't sure what had her so on edge, but her insides were screaming. Impatiently, she tapped her knee. If she could just see him, perhaps the feelings of uneasiness would dissipate.

When the door opened to the basement room Miranda looked up expectedly. Wesker's eyes fell on her and Riley sitting side by side on the cot and he frowned hatefully. Miranda looked down at the floor and her stomach dropped. It wasn't hard to tell that he was still furious with them. After all these years she should have known better than to think he'd be anything but angry.

Jacks stood in the doorway, scowling at Riley. "Well… the King of Zombies is still alive. What a wonderful surprise." Confused, Miranda glared at him. It didn't make any sense for Jacks to act this way. 

"Glad you made it back, Jacks. Always a pleasure." Riley acknowledged him with a smug smile. Jacks snorted and took the gun from his waistband and tossed it at them. Miranda reached out and caught it effortlessly. Wesker frowned again. "You look like a super model without your shirt, Jack-o." 

"Who asked you smart-ass?" Jacks shot back. 

"You're the…" Riley started.

"Quiet!" Wesker shouted. Jacks scowled again and moved toward the row of monitors slapping the gray haired man, Basin, on the back. 

Before Miranda and Riley realized he'd moved at all, Wesker towered over them. Leaning down, he seized Miranda's upper arm, squeezing hard. "Listen to me both of you." He hissed. "There will be no more running around this city as you please. I will not stand for it." He shook Miranda aggressively. "The next time you two decide to make a trip into the city for any reason, I will leave you to die. Am I understood?" The two of them nodded simultaneously. "I've wasted enough time and men for this, Harley. We will not search for that girl, no matter how much you insist that we do. I do not care about that child. I will never care about that child." For a split second Wesker turned away and Miranda thought she heard him mumble something like: _you never gave me the chance to_. "This mission is cut and dry. We're here to collect the G-virus. We are not here to save lives. Grow up and stop being a fool, Harley. This isn't about saving lives anymore it's about destroying them." Behind him, Jacks nodded in agreement.

"Who asked you smart-ass?" Riley snapped. Wesker let go of her arm and Miranda turned her head. She wouldn't let any of them see that he'd upset her. 

"He's right. What are the lives of this pathetic town worth anyway? They were all slaves to Umbrella and they got their just rewards. No need to save any of them when they wouldn't even save themselves." The room was solemn as he spoke. Jacks sat down in a chair and propped his feet up on the console in front of him. 

"What about the children?" Miranda could hold back no longer.

"What about them?" Jacks sneered at her. 

"Do they deserve this? They're innocent, Jacks. Sherry is innocent." Miranda was on the verge of tears but pride got the better of her. They would not see her cry. Not here. 

"No child is innocent, Ms. Harley. The sins of the father are descended upon the child." Jacks had turned to look at her, his eyes gleaming.

"Enough!" Wesker shouted suddenly. Everyone in the room turned to look at him. He frowned and inclined his head toward Jacks. "I want a status report on the remaining humans and one on the monsters roaming in the city." Jacks took out a hunting knife with a razor sharp blade and began cleaning his fingernails with it. 

"There's two different Tyrants running loose." Miranda said softly. "There's the standard Mr. X and then there's Nemesis." She paused and looked at Wesker. "While the X prototype isn't all that bright, he is effective in the capture of human life forms. The Nemesis however is a different subject. He was genetically enhanced to go after the first target he is shown and will not stop until he retrieves it…" 

"That's the way he was originally designed," Basin interrupted. "But now it seems that he goes after his target with the intent to infect then destroy. Even if he is injured, he still moves like a machine in order to complete his mission." He pointed to a large monitor on the south side of the room currently displaying Jill Valentine firing shots into the Nemesis. She was having little success in felling the monster. "The X prototype is not the same either. It seems that he no longer captures life forms, but kills them." 

"That doesn't make any sense. Why would they do that?" Miranda questioned. The Umbrella she'd known was developing these creatures as a safety measure to retrieve prisoners of war without the cost of human life. At least…that's what _she_ had been developing them for. 

"It's all about the war, baby. The man with the most advance weaponry wins. Don't you know that?" Jacks looked up from cleaning his nails and scowled at her. 

Miranda looked toward Wesker, searching his face to see if Jacks was right. But with his dark glasses on she couldn't read his eyes. 

Riley patted her leg. "Don't think about it, M. Not everybody worries about their weaponry." He glared at Jacks.

"Not the ones that don't have it." Jacks cracked. Wesker slammed his hand down on the console in front of him and Jacks jumped. 

"Enough!" He nearly screamed the words. "Give me the status report on the humans alive in the city." 

Basin hastily pulled up a screen on his computer. "Four of the remaining seven members of Umbrella's Bio Hazard Countermeasure team are holed up in the clock tower. Their communications suggest that they are waiting for a helicopter to come and pick them up." Basin rubbed his hands together nervously. "Jill Valentine it seems has joined hands with the other three members of the U.M.B.C. including that hot shot mercenary rogue, Carlos Oliveira."

"Of the police force," a man with green hair continued. "There's one person still alive. His name is Leon Kennedy. First day on the job too. It seems that he's searching through the police station looking for survivors. There's a girl there too." 

Wesker raised an eyebrow. "What about her?" 

"Her name is Claire Redfield." Green hair answered.

"Redfield?" Wesker and Miranda chorused. They looked at each other and then back at Green Hair. 

"Yeah…Redfield...She's been blasting through the police station as well. It seems that she's searching for someone." Green Hair glared at Jacks who was leaned over the console typing something on the keyboard. 

"Claire Redfield." He said loudly, his voice dared anyone to interrupt. "Nineteen years old…College girl…Youngest daughter of Senator John Redfield…Older brother by the name of Chris." He sat back and put his arms behind his head. "It's all right there in the government file boys. Learn your codes." Basin glared at him as well. 

"Keep a watch on that Countermeasure team. If there's even an inkling that a helicopter is coming for them, shoot it down. Jill Valentine will not leave this city alive. Use the mercenary to get to her if you have to. Send Ada out to keep an eye on Kennedy." Wesker barked. It was very obvious he had had enough of the bickering. "Ignore Claire Redfield. She's as weak as her brother." Miranda opened her mouth to argue with him, but thought better of it as she saw him cracking his knuckles. "Anything else?" 

"Chief Irons is still alive for the time being. That won't last long." Riley spoke up. "Ada says there's a reporter named Ben Bertolucci locked up in one of the cells in the parking garage. He says that he knows some secrets concerning Umbrella. She'll take care of him, of course." 

"What the hell?" Jacks had leaned forward again and was staring hard at a monitor. 

"What?" Wesker stepped behind him and was staring over his shoulder. Miranda came up next to him and stood on tiptoe to see. 

"There's a little girl in the police station. She's in the ventilation shafts." Jacks said in surprise. 

"Sherry?" Miranda's voice was shaking. "Is it Sherry?"

"Leave it be, Harley. Turn that off, Jacks. Now!" Wesker bellowed. Jacks did as he was told without arguing. "This mission is simple gentlemen. We get what we came for. We get the combat data we need and we get out. Anyone who wants to make it more complicated than that can go outside and negotiate with the bio-monsters." 

Miranda turned away and walked through the door to the restroom, slamming it behind her. The sound resonated in the silence. 

Albert Wesker sat alone on the far side of the Surveillance room and rested his eyes. It was mercifully quiet now that Jacks and Riley had retreated to their corners to sleep. Miranda had stayed in the restroom and he'd heard nothing from there in over an hour. More than likely she had cried herself to sleep. He was right about what he'd told them and she knew it. There was no sense in jeopardizing an entire mission for one little girl. 

"So what happens now, Captain?" Jacks sat gazing at him with dark green eyes glittering. "The G-virus samples have been destroyed." 

"I'm aware of that, Jacks." Wesker said, pushing his dark glasses up the bridge of his nose. "But there's more to it than that. Birkin would not have just placed all the samples in one briefcase. He would have been smart enough to make another and hide it." 

"All we have to do is find out where." Riley sat up and stretched. 

"We?" Jacks snorted. "There is no "we", smart-ass. There's an "us" but not a "you"." 

"So technical for a soldier. Did they teach you that in finishing school, pretty boy?" Riley shot back. 

"Think so…" Jacks stood and was stalking toward Riley anger dancing in his eyes. 

"Silence!" Wesker hissed. "I've had enough of the bickering. You two sound just like a couple of women." That said, he closed his eyes again and heard Jacks sit back on his cot. After a long, blessed moment of quiet, Riley began shuffling around. Wesker opened one eye and watched him thoughtfully. He was running his fingers across the open wound in his leg. 

"It doesn't even hurt. That's strange." He said aloud. Jacks ignored him. 

"It's dead skin, Davis. It's not supposed to hurt." Wesker told him. 

"Won't it rot and fall off?" Riley looked disgusted.

"Not necessarily. The antidote I gave you reversed the effects the T-virus was having on your body. However, it was not a strong enough dose to cure the cellular functions of that area. Any stronger of a dose would have killed you." Wesker laid one leg over the other and crossed his arms. "The only problem I foresee is the fact that with your bone being exposed as it is, you are highly susceptible to breakage. It would be in your best interest for us to remove that entire leg." 

"Wait…No. I don't think my best interest agrees with that." Riley's eyes shot up alarmed. Jacks snickered. 

"I don't see any other choice, Riley. There's not a medical surgeon on our team. The bone in that leg will break within the next few days unless you get something in there to hold the flesh together." Wesker shrugged. "Sorry." Riley hung his head and sighed loudly. 

"Oh for heaven's sake, smart-ass." Jacks stood and took out his knife the blade glinting in the low lighting. 

"What are you planning to do with that?" Riley cried. 

"It won't hurt too much." Jacks told him. Wesker raised an eyebrow, but pretended to look uninterested. Reaching down below Riley's cot, Jacks pulled out a leather jacket. He'd noticed it lying there when he and Wesker had first arrived. 

Taking his knife he cut the back and removed the insides. The standard operative jackets were lightweight, but filled with plenty of insulation. "Hold still." Kneeling in front of Riley, he placed a small swatch of the leather on top of the bone. Riley frowned and stared at Jacks as if he were another zombie chewing on his legs. 

"What in the crap are you…?" Riley stuttered. Jacks began removing strings from the jacket. When he'd finished, he took out a long needle from his inside pocket and threaded the string through. 

Wesker almost smiled. Jacks was a brilliant boy, there was never any denying that. He was very pleased with him. Not only was he a brilliant soldier with little conscious, but he also showed knowledge in fields that Wesker would never have imagined. He'd made the right choice. 

Jacks stuffed the wound with the insulation, the needle clenched between his teeth. "What are you doing?" Riley asked again, his voice high pitched in worry. Jacks took the needle and viciously stabbed it into the cot.

"What does it look like?" Jacks frowned at him. 

"But why? Don't you hate me?" Riley stared at him.

"Of course I hate you. But I hate you worse with a limp." Jacks snorted. 

"Why leather?" 

"Because it's the closest thing to your skin…This may hurt…" Jacks took the needle and jabbed it into Riley's leg. Riley bit his lip and growled. Laying another leather swatch over the insulation, Jacks began closing up the wound. "Now don't be stupid and get this wet. You do and the leather will shrink. Then, you'll never get it off." 

"How old are you?" Riley found that for some reason he needed to know more about Jacks. After all, he'd just recently showed up at the HCF headquarters and although Wesker seemed to know him well, Riley knew nothing of him. 

"Old enough to kick your ass into oblivion." Jacks said simply. 

"Have any girlfriends?" Riley interjected. 

"Why should you care?" Jacks looked up from sewing and narrowed his eyes. The two of them sat in silence for a moment before Jacks continued about his work. 

"So, if you're such a ladies man. Give me some tips with Ada." Riley nudged him. 

Quicker than Riley could respond Jacks had grabbed his arm squeezed unmercifully. "You stay away from her, Davis. She's trouble." 

"Maybe so. But she's also gorgeous." Riley told him. 

Jacks threw his arm down and continued working on sewing in the leather. "Whatever you say, smart-ass."

"So, why do you hate Umbrella?" Riley asked, never missing a beat. "I mean, I've heard a lot of stories, but I've never heard yours." 

"It's none of your concern." Jacks said simply. He bit off the remaining string and threw it on the floor. He and Wesker exchanged glances but neither said anything else, much to Riley's irritation.

Without another word Wesker stood and nodded to Jacks. Jacks picked up his shirt and followed. "Since you and I are wide awake I think it's time we were on our way." 

"Be careful," Riley told them almost embarrassed that he had said that. "And Jacks…" Jacks turned to look at him frowning. "Thanks." 

"I only did it so I wouldn't have to hear you whining anymore." Jacks shrugged and left, leaving Wesker behind. Gingerly, Miranda opened the door to the restroom and peeked around the doorframe. 

Wesker turned suddenly looking at the restroom door before his eyes rested on Riley. Although Miranda did not understand, Riley nodded. "Safe and sound, Wesker. Safe and sound." Wesker nodded back and disappeared into the darkness of the open door. Once again, Miranda did not catch the semblance of what had just happened. 

"That little girl was wearing some type of necklace." Jacks said as he equipped himself with a set of sub machine guns and extra ammunition. The two of them were standing at the shattered remains of the hotel's front door. "What you said about Birkin…would it be possible for him to have hidden the last G-virus sample in his daughter's pendant?"

"You think that was his daughter?" Wesker asked. Jacks nodded and finished fastening his AK-47 to the strap on his back. He'd made the strap so the gun would be easily accessible when he needed it to be. Wesker took out his own gun and checked the clip. 

"Desert Eagle .50AE." Jacks whistled. "That's a pretty smooth gun."

"Yes." Wesker said slipping it back into its holster. "I'll send Ada Wong to check on the girl. You find the four U.M.B.C.S. members in the clock tower and kill them. I'll meet up with you later and give you further instructions." Without another word, Jacks headed off into the darkness the rain dropping like a curtain behind him. 

Albert Wesker knew that for the rest of the mission to go successfully he'd have to keep an eye on Ada Wong. She had been acting strange and in his gut he knew that he'd have to watch her and see if she decided to betray them. If she did, he would have no problem killing her.

"Wesker? You there?" Riley's voice boomed from the com-link. 

"What?" Wesker spoke harshly. It wasn't as if he were angry, he was just annoyed with everyone at the moment. It was better that he was working alone. 

"I just wanted to tell you thanks for saving my life." Riley said quietly. "I owe you." 

"I know." Wesker told him. Ending the transmission he looked back out at the rainy street. This city was covered in death, he'd been able to smell it since the first moment they'd arrived and if the truth were told, he'd smelled it for years.


	13. Los Muertes Angelico

Jacks stood alone in the courtyard of the Clock Tower. The rain poured around him drenching him to the bone, but he hadn't noticed. His mind was blank. He'd kept it that way since arriving at the Tower. 

He'd never had a problem killing. Ever since he'd been forced to watch two little sisters killed in front of him, he'd never even noticed. Blood was like water to him, cleansing and natural. His was hand on the .44 Magnum in his hip holster. Jacks closed his eyes and listened for voices inside the Tower. 

"Come out…Come out…where ever you are!" Jacks' eyes flew open and he realized that he was not in the Tower Courtyard anymore, but in his old home. He heard the frightened whimpering of his youngest sister. He braced himself for what was coming. Without warning Jacks was about to relive his ultimate nightmare.

"Nessa, be quiet!" his own hiss of fear was as clear as a bell.

"Check through there!" The voice was Spanish and right outside the door. Jacks realized with sickening certainty that he was merely an observer in an old memory. The three of them were underneath the bed in his room. His sisters were crying uncontrollably. "When you find them, kill them." Upon hearing this, Nessa choked out a sob so loud there was no doubt the mercenaries had heard. 

His older sister grabbed his arm and dug her nails into it. "What have you done Robert?" He'd never answered. He didn't have time to. The door flew open and two men burst inside. "Find them!" 

Nessa cried out again and one man with black hair and brown eyes grabbed her by the arm, yanking her from underneath the bed. 

"No!" Jacks crawled out and threw himself at the other man. "Leave her alone." 

"Kill the girls first, then the boy." The one who spoke was been tall with short dark brown hair and beady, evil eyes. His sisters broke down into sobs. 

"Leave them alone. They don't know anything!" Jacks screamed as the three of them were dragged into the living room. "They don't know!"

The two men were about the same height and build and were wearing the same olive green shirts with utility vests and khaki pants. Their Umbrella issued combat boots clunked heavily across the floor. Even though he'd been deathly afraid, Jacks had memorized every detail, swearing that if they killed his sisters, he would hunt them down and kill them in return. 

They pushed his youngest sister to her knees. "Maybe we should have a little fun with her." The black haired one purred. 

"No!" Jacks leapt toward them again and began furiously hitting and kicking. "Leave her alone!" 

"Call Sergeant Nicholai. He's going too be much of a problem for us to get the job done quickly." The dark brown haired man slammed the butt of his shotgun into Jacks' stomach. Jacks rolled away and clutched his mid-section, coughing haggardly. 

"Please." He wheezed. "Leave them alone. They're just little girls." Nessa was twelve and Melissa was fourteen. The men ignored him and forced his other sister to her knees as she sobbed. It was only a few minutes until "Sergeant Nicholai" arrived, but to Jacks it seemed like an eternity. 

The Sergeant strode through the broken front door and stared down at Jacks who was still lying on the floor. This man looked like what Jacks had always imagined the devil would like. That was, of course, until he'd met Albert Wesker. The Russian man had silver hair that almost gleamed under the lights. His eyes were empty as if he wasn't even human. "Hold him." The Sergeant said with an evil laugh. "I kill these two." 

"Please, sir. Let them go. They don't know...Please." Jacks reached out for the sergeant's arm. 

"The family that plays together, pays together." the brown haired man said with a laugh. In the courtyard, Jacks dropped to his knees as the gunshots rang out in his mind. He could see his sisters' blood like the opening petals of a flower spreading on the wall behind them. He screamed the sound guttural and inhuman. For a moment Jacks wondered if the scream had really come from him. It echoed in the courtyard, sending a set of shutters bursting open on the top floor of the Clock Tower. 

"Who are you?" someone shouted. Jacks looked up and locked eyes with a brown haired man. The man's wicked eyes gleamed. 

"Help me!" Jacks shouted back. "I'm from the city. My whole family..." Jacks paused in his lies, laughing between his teeth at the irony.

"Wait." The man's voice was the same as it had been all those years ago. Jacks stood, ignoring the mud that soaked the legs of his pants. Soon the dark haired man appeared in the doorway and in a flash Jacks had him on the ground. Taking out the Magnum, Jacks grabbed the man by the collar and dragged him to the middle of the courtyard in front of the statue of an angel.

"Get on your knees..."Jacks ground out. The man turned to look at him, still in shock. After a few moments of staring at him, the man began to shake violently. 

"You!" He cried. "You're dead. We shot you in the..." He began to cry.

"Please don't kill me. I only did what I was told to do..."

Jacks forced the man to look at the statue as he spoke, "The family that plays together, pays together." He pointed the gun at the back of the man's head and fired.

Riley leaned against the wall and watched as Miranda was typing on the main computer. Screens opened and disappeared faster than he could keep up with them. "Have you found it yet?" Miranda shook her head without answering. Screens continued moving erratically. Riley sighed loudly. "At least let me sit next to you. Quit hogging the computer."

"I'm not hogging it, Riley. I'm just...Found it…Oh no." Miranda's voice was excited then suddenly uneasy all in the space of a few words. 

"What?" Several other scientists had been watching her as well. 

"Birkin hid the other G-virus sample in Sherry's pendant. She's got it with her." Miranda's voice was shaking. 

"Which means?" Basin went up to stand behind her looking at the blonde haired girl in the monitor.

"It means William Birkin is after her." Miranda caught Riley's eye and he nodded. 

"Find out where Ada is and I'll try to work around her to find Sherry." He assured her. Miranda smiled, relieved. 

"Ada and Wesker are together on the south side of the police station. Sherry is on the north side." Green Hair said loudly. "Now would be our best shot." Riley nodded again and sighed. He moved away from the wall and reached for the com-link Miranda was holding out. 

"Are you sure you should do this...I mean with your leg…?" Miranda asked, handing him a gun. He hadn't thought about it. So far, he hadn't even noticed the pain. It was almost obsolete. It didn't bother him to walk on it. With the leather sewn over the gash, it seemed as if his leg were whole. 

"I'm good, M, don't worry about me. You've got enough on your mind." He didn't know why, but he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. She blushed and smiled at him. 

"Keep in touch, Riley." She said softly. 

He smiled back and nodded. "You bet." Miranda watched him leave her hand on her cheek. Riley was such a sweet man. She'd never had any real friends before and it was strange for her to think that she had one now. She hoped Riley would be okay. If what Wesker said was true, and Riley got into trouble, he would be on his own. Wesker would not save him again. 

She sat back in the chair and sighed heavily. What had she gotten him into? She wished that she was the one going to get her daughter, but like Riley had said, there was no way. Wesker would be likely to kill her personally if she disobeyed him again. Plus, she could not save herself and she was too afraid of the monsters. 

"Can't someone go with him?" Miranda asked anyone who would answer. 

"Sure," Basin said loudly. "Jacks...But ah... I don't think he'd like that much." Miranda sighed exasperated. Had she just sent Riley to his death? 

Ada Wong stared at Wesker as if he'd grown an extra head. "You want me to what?" 

"You heard me, Ada." Wesker said angrily. 

"I've been following this moron cop around because you told me to. Now you're telling me to find a little girl? What do I look like to you? A Babysitter or an operative?" Ada snapped.

"You look like Zombie fodder to me, but that's irrelevant." Wesker told her simply. "It's not a choice, Ms. Wong. Arguments are not acceptable." Ada snorted and walked away from him. "Besides, the girl's got a pendant and I want it." 

Ada continued walking without turning back. "Why don't you tell your bitch to find the girl for you." Wesker's shot forward, grabbed her by the arm, and flung her to the floor. He said nothing as he picked her up by the hair and sat her on her feet. 

"Remember this, Ms. Wong. You live only because I allow you to."

Robert Jacks had spent a lot of time learning that life wasn't fair. Now as he stood over the body of the fourth and last Countermeasure team member the fact hit home. 

It had never been so easy to destroy a human life, but in a city that was nearly devoid of it, it seemed the natural thing to do. Turning on his heel he frowned. In his haste to kill the fourth man, he'd killed a young woman. But, from the looks of it, she was on the verge of becoming a zombie anyway. Captain Wesker wouldn't have cared anyhow. 

The back door to the Tower stood wide open and Jacks stepped through it. The door led into a rain-covered alleyway. The alley gave way to a road leading to a hospital. It wouldn't hurt, he decided to gather some extra medical supplies and wait for the Captain there. 

As he walked to the Hospital, Jacks found it strange that the zombies standing on the street ignored him. For a moment he felt like Wesker and wondered why. He got close enough to a female zombie so that he was looking her into her blank eyes, but the zombie never moved. It was as if he wasn't there at all. He found it funny considering the undead monsters had attacked several of his crew when they'd made their way into the city. He could have sworn he'd been attacked as well. 

Now that he thought about it, those bio-monsters had disregarded him as they were doing now. The only creatures that had come after him were the Hunters, the Lickers, and those strange green creatures. The Surveillance team hadn't given them a name yet. 

The hospital was deadly quiet. Although hospitals usually were, this was too much. A hunter lay on the floor, its green blood pooling beneath it. Jacks kneeled down to examine it and found several bullet shells belonging to a semi-automatic machine gun. 

"Help me..." Someone groaned. Jacks eyes darted around the room, finally coming to rest on a man in a U.M.B.C.S. uniform lying on the floor near the elevators. "Help me, please." Jacks recognized the black haired man even in the darkness. He took out his hunting knife and stood, walking to the fallen mercenary. 

"Why should I?" His voice was harsh. 

"Oh no…I...not you..." the man was gargling, blood slid down his lips and dripped off his chin. "No! Not you!" Jacks cocked his head almost whimsical. 

"Why not me?" He kneeled next to the man and made sure he saw the knife. 

" Los Muertes Angelico …You were sent to take me to hell weren't you?" He was trembling. "I pay for my sins, don't I, `Angel? It is only fitting that it be you." 

Jacks placed the knife against the man's throat, his eyes half closed. "It's only fitting that it be me." He growled into the silence. 

Riley was half way to the front door of the police station when the Nemesis spotted him. He'd been running as fast as his injured leg would carry him. He was too tired to run any longer. 

"S.T.A.R.S." The Nemesis spoke in an ominous tone, striding towards him like it had all the time in the world. Riley was silently cursing himself for his heinous luck when a gunshot nearly knocked him off his feet. 

"What are you doing, moron? Run!" The voice was vaguely familiar but Riley didn't have time to figure out whom it belonged to. He ran as quickly as he could. His leg sending out shock waves of pain twisting through his body. 

The Nemesis had turned away from him and was heading in the direction of the gunfire. Riley could hear the thuds fading as they got farther away. A second gun sounded and Riley turned back. Two men stood across from each other on the police station gate firing into the Nemesis. After what seemed like an eternity, the Nemesis stumbled and fell, groaning unhappily as he did so. 

The two men jumped down at the same time and Riley saw them the same way. Jacks and Wesker weren't looking too happy with him. 

"Davis!" Wesker roared. "What the hell are you doing here?" Jacks scowled and Riley noticed that he was covered in mud and blood. 

"I was...ah...that is..." Riley stuttered. He remembered what Wesker had said about leaving him to die in the city. 

"I told him to come here." Jacks interjected. "I thought we might use him to follow Ada." Wesker stared at him, his jaw set.

"No one listens to me do they?" Wesker shouted. "Perhaps we should wait here. Is Harley on her way too?" Wesker threw up his hands. 

"You have to admit sir, there's more of them than us." Jacks said. "Even being super human doesn't make you omnipotent." 

"You think not?" Wesker snapped. Riley continued to stare at Jacks. Why had he interceded for him? 

"Well, with Ada being my girlfriend and all, I thought it might be nice if I...you know, kept an eye on her." Riley told them, with a grin. Both men groaned. 

"Fine." Wesker said at last. "But if you get into trouble, Davis, there won't be anyone to help you. Be aware of that." The warning was clear-cut. Jacks nodded his agreement.

All conversations suddenly ended as the three of them heard a strange rumbling. Jacks and Wesker shot toward the gates, leaving Riley to hobble behind. 

"A trolley?" Jacks was frowning. "How the devil did they get that thing running?" The trolley thundered past the police station gates, smashing through the wrecked cars in its path.

Riley squinted to see who was inside and saw Jill Valentine in the lead car, yelling something inaudible. There was a man standing behind her. It was obvious that the trolley wasn't going to stop for anything. 

"It's headed for the hotel!" Riley shouted out. Wesker's eyes grew wide as he realized that Riley was right. 

"Find Ada and follow her!" Wesker bellowed. With that, he leapt over the wall and Jacks followed through the gate, both running at top speed. Riley turned toward the doors, praying that what his mind saw happening at the hotel would not come pass. 

Miranda had fallen asleep again. She'd been fighting exhaustion for hours. The cot felt good beneath her body, which was still aching from a myriad of things. She felt safe enough to go to sleep for a few hours, trusting in the knowledge that Riley, if no one else, would bring her daughter to her safe and alive. She'd feel a lot better after she, Wesker, and Sherry were far away from this place. Miranda Harley was lost in such a wonderful daydream that she never heard the trolley approaching as she closed her eyes and let the darkness gently overtake her. 

The trolley crashed through the hotel lobby above them, slamming into the support beams and rocking them as it continued through to its ultimate destination at the Clock Tower. The beams teetered but didn't fall. 

Albert Wesker had been trying to get in touch with the basement Surveillance team but all communications had been lost moments before the trolley hit. Something exploded from inside the hotel and fire reached for them with hungry flames. "Miranda!" Wesker shouted. The tone of his voice took him by surprise. "Stay here!" He ordered Jacks. 

Wesker charged through the door and had only taken a few steps when the support beams gave way and the six-story hotel collapsed on top of him.


	14. Dream a Deadly Dream

******************************************************

It was a world without Umbrella. The sun was shining brightly and birds were singing somewhere in the distance as Albert Wesker opened his eyes. 

Chris Redfield stood beside him adjusting his tie. His tie? Since when did Redfield wear a tie? Scowling, Wesker looked down at himself. He was finding it difficult to grasp the fact that he was wearing a tuxedo. "You look great, Captain Wesker." Chris patted his arm.

"Like a real winner!" Barry Burton shouted, slapping him on the back. Wesker turned to look at him and realized that the S.T.A.R.S. members surrounding him should have, by all rights, been dead. 

"Yeah, man, beautiful…just beautiful." Kenneth Sullivan said, brushing off Wesker's lapel. 

"Can't believe our Captain is getting hitched!" Brad Vickers laughed loudly. The group laughed with him. 

"I…what?" Wesker was speechless. His mind was racing. He wasn't sure what to think. He couldn't remember anything. 

"It's okay." Barry squeezed his shoulder. "I was nervous too."

"Yeah, but with a hotty like Miranda Harley, what's there to be nervous about?" Forest Speyer teased. The last time he'd seen Forest, half his skin had been missing and crows were feeding off his remains. 

"Miranda?" Wesker whispered. Surely she'd know what was going on here. "Where is she?" 

"Hang on there, hot pants," Chris grabbed his arm. "I doubt she's ready yet."

"Let go of me, you…" Wesker stopped himself in mid-sentence. It wouldn't do for him to get angry and fly off the handle just yet. Not until he knew what the hell was going on.

"Wesker, you look so handsome." Jill Valentine said with a smile. "We're all so happy for you." She was wearing a lilac dress. Miranda's favorite color. Surely Jill wasn't the maid of honor?

"About as handsome as a skunk!" Enrico Marini guffawed. Wesker narrowed his eyes and reached up to adjust his sunglasses but they were gone. Barry and Enrico were slapping hands, which seemed strange to him. Barry had shot Enrico dead in the underground passageway of the mansion. 

"Awl…the Captain ain't got his sunglasses. What's he gonna do?" Joseph Frost mocked. 

"Probably go blind from looking at old Barry's baby powder skin." Richard Akin joked. Barry grabbed him and rubbed the top of his head with his knuckles. Wesker stared at this laughing group. What was wrong with all of them? How were they alive? He'd seen each, with the exception of Chris, Jill, and Barry, die. There had been no mistaking their death. Most of them he'd been responsible for.

Rebecca Chambers came bounding into the clearing and for the first time Wesker took a moment to study his surroundings. They were standing in a wooded area, with the Spencer mansion in the background. The day was sunny and breezy with a faint scent of lilacs and roses in the air. Miranda loved lilacs and roses. 

"She's ready. You guys can…Oh Captain, you look handsome." Rebecca blushed as she said this. She too wore a lilac dress. "Miranda will be so happy." 

"Come on, Wesker." Chris said with a smile. "Can't keep the lady waiting." Wesker followed Chris into the opening in the clearing and paused as he saw the flower arrangements of red, purple, and white fluttering gently in the wind. White chairs cluttered the sprawling lawn of the mansion and faced an awning covered in similar arrangements of flowers. "I've got the ring." Chris whispered. Wesker groaned. What in the world made Chris think he would ever be the best man? 

The S.T.A.R.S. members took their places in the front chairs and stood smiling and him. He and Chris stopped at the awning and waited, although Wesker still wasn't sure what for. Then, as if by magic, the Wedding March started up and Miranda Harley appeared at the end of the isle. 

Dressed all in white, Wesker could almost swear he was looking at an ethereal angel. He couldn't help but smile at her. Through the veil, she smiled back, and her smile nearly took his breath away. Whatever he had been planning to ask her, he'd already forgotten about.

In a moment, she was standing next to him and it dawned on Wesker what was happening. Miranda was going to be his wife. Still confused but strangely at ease with everything, he listened as the preacher read the vows and waited for him to repeat them. It went by so fast, the next thing he knew the preacher was telling him to kiss the bride and Miranda was in his arms, his mouth claiming hers. He closed his eyes to let the sensation of her overtake him and suddenly his world was spinning out of control… 

************************************************************

He heard the sigh and instantly his eyes flew open. Darkness met him and he fought to see. His eyes for some reason were not adjusting well to the blackness. It was almost as if he were still human. 

When he finally regained his sight, he found Miranda lying in his arms her body pressed against him. The two of them were wrapped in a sheet, a tangle of legs. He had an arm draped over her hip and he felt the warmth of her skin next to his. She sighed again and Wesker lost himself. He leaned his head down and kissed her on the soft skin of her neck. He stroked her hair and saw the faint glimmer of a wedding ring on his left hand.

"I love you." She whispered. He closed his eyes to relish in the sound and suddenly his world was spinning out of control…

************************************************************

"Wesker!" The cry was painful. Even hearing it hurt. Wesker's eyes flew open and he was staring down at a sobbing Miranda. He frowned and studied her. Sweat was pouring off her forehead and she was gritting her teeth. He reached out to hold her hand not sure of what was wrong with her. His hand brushed her swollen belly and he realized instantly what was wrong. "Wesker!" The same cry pierced his ears. 

For the first time in his life, Albert Wesker was speechless. He was confused. He'd gone from a wedding, to a bed, to this and he still wasn't sure what the hell was going on. He stared down at her until a chubby nurse barked at him to move and he did as he was told. 

"Wesker…" Miranda's voice was hoarse. She was in pain. Although he wasn't sure what was happening, he watched as a doctor pulled a screaming baby girl from her and laid the child on her chest. Miranda continued to sob as Wesker looked down at them, overcome. He kissed his wife on the forehead and smiled.

"Sherry." Miranda said quietly. "Her name is Sherry." Wesker closed his eyes for one moment as a strange feeling of pride swept over him and suddenly his world was spinning out of control again….

************************************************************

"Daddy are you listening?" Wesker's eyes flew open once again and he was staring down at his daughter. He didn't know how he knew that, he just did. He nodded but said nothing as Sherry adjusted herself into his lap and put a book in front of her. 

"Grandma, what big ears you have!" Sherry shouted in a squeaky voice. Wesker listened for Miranda, surely if Sherry was here so was she. 

"Oh ouch." Pots and pans clattered noisily. 

"You okay?" Wesker asked, surprising himself. What was wrong with him?

"I'm fine, darling." Miranda answered coming to the door of the kitchen. Her smile nearly took his breath away, not to mention the fact that her stomach was swollen. She was pregnant again. He was speechless. "Thanks for asking." She blew him a kiss and returned to the kitchen.

"Daddy!" Sherry protested loudly. "Do you know what the Big Bad Wolf said?" Wesker gazed down at Sherry and smiled, urging her to go on. "All the better to hear you with my dear!" Wesker's mind was whirling. Hearing…? Why did that spark something in him? 

"Little Red Riding Hood said, 'Grandma, what big eyes you have!'" Sherry looked the same as she had when he'd seen her…He recognized the fact that he'd seen her before but couldn't quite remember where. "All the better to see you with my dear!" Sherry shouted. Wesker's mind continued whirling. Eyes…? Why was that starting a wildfire in his mind? Something was definitely going wrong with this whole scenario. He was not supposed to…

"Grandma!" Sherry was almost screaming. She had hopped down from his lap and ran to the middle of the room. "What big teeth you have!" Wesker grabbed his head as Miranda came back into the room. 

"Wesker, honey, are you all right?" Miranda sat in his lap and kissed his forehead. 

"All the better to eat you with my dear!" Sherry's voice had distorted and sounded almost mechanical. Wesker leaned his head up to kiss Miranda and was shocked to find that she was licking his face. Her tongue touched his lips and he tasted the sharp metallic tang of blood. Wesker closed his eyes for a moment, fighting revulsion, and suddenly his world was spinning out of control for the last time…

************************************************************

"Wesker!" Jacks shouted. He leapt into the rubble and began trying to move the large pieces of concrete and steel. But, like his vision, he wasn't nearly as strong as his leader. Leaning his weight against a large concrete block, he managed to push it away. "Captain! Can you hear me?" Jacks refused to believe that Wesker was dead. After all, weren't monsters supposed to live forever? 

He balanced his weight on another large piece and it collapsed beneath him, sending him plunging into the now ravaged hotel basement below. He hit the ground hard and lay still for a moment, trying to force his breath to catch up with him. The piece of concrete he'd been leaning on fell on top of him and Jacks moaned loudly, the pain all at once a fire through out his body. 

Miranda Harley was pinned between two pieces of concrete as well. She heard the moan and her whole body went stiff. She wasn't trying to get free anymore. Her insides were screaming that somehow a zombie had survived and was making its way toward her, hungry after its ordeal. She fought to get her arms free to at least fire the gun. Miraculously it was still tucked in her back pocket. Unfortunately, she couldn't reach behind her. She stared hard through the crack in the concrete but saw only smoke and darkness.

Jacks saw Miranda behind the concrete and heard her panicked breathing. Unexpectedly, another sound assaulted his ears. The moan came through clear as a bell and he knew that it was not his own. He saw the zombie rising from the fire and walking slowly in Miranda's direction. He reached for his gun, which had fallen just out of range of his fingers. 

The zombie arrived at the concrete in front of Miranda and leaned his body against it. The concrete groaned under the weight and diminished the space around her. She told herself she could deal with the situation as long as she felt certain the zombie could not reach her. "Miranda!" She recognized Jacks' voice. 

"Jacks? Where are you?" Miranda cried out. She didn't know why, but she had the feeling that Jacks wasn't going to be able to help her, no matter what happened.

"Hold still. He can't get to you if you hold still." As if in answer the zombie moaned desperately, thrust an arm into the opening between the two fragments of concrete and grabbed at her arm. Miranda screamed in surprise and fear as the zombie's fingers enclosed around her wrist and he began forcefully yanking her arm out of the opening. The zombie dug putrid nails into her arm. "Wesker!" The scream was filled with a new element of terror and pain. Jacks' continued his desperate reach for his gun to no avail. All he could do was watch as the zombie continued to tug on Miranda's arm.

It seemed odd to her that the zombie hadn't even noticed Jacks, but when the pain intensified and it began to feel like the zombie was tearing her arm off it didn't seem to matter all that much. She squeezed her eyes shut, praying that Wesker found her before that happened. 

Riley couldn't believe he was seeing Miranda's daughter. Sherry was evading a set of zombie dogs, somehow managing it run in between their lunges. This little girl was very smart. One dog managed to tackle her to ground and was nipping at her face. He jumped off the ladder he'd been sitting on and ran toward her, yelling inanely and firing frantically. The dog fell away and Sherry jumped up, a look of challenge in her eyes. For a moment, he could have sworn he saw Wesker in her face. Could that be the reason Miranda hadn't told them Sherry was her daughter in the first place? 

"Sherry. Are you all right?" He leaned down and reached for the little girl. She stared at him for a moment and punched him in the nose. He gave a startled shout and fell backward. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sherry sprinting for the door on the far side of the roof. He pushed himself up to stumble after her. 

He reached the door moments after Sherry had slammed it. "Claire!" Riley paused with his hand on the door and listened. Could she be calling for Claire Redfield? 

Jacks had said that Claire was the younger sister of Chris Redfield and he'd seen Wesker and Miranda look at each other. He had gathered from things that the two of them had said at one time or another that Chris Redfield was responsible for the so-called death of the "human" Wesker. He could understand why didn't Wesker care much for Chris. 

"I couldn't find him." Sherry said with a sniffle. She paused as if listening to Claire speak. "…I can't reach it...." Riley noticed the dripping blood on his jacket and realized that Miranda's Sherry had broken his nose. 

The door swung open and hit him in the face. Riley fell backward and this time he stayed down. His vision was swimming. "Take that, zombie!" Sherry shouted, kicking him in the ribs. With that done to her satisfaction, she ran across the platform and disappeared into another door. 

"Well…that went well." Riley grumbled, wiping his nose with his sleeve. He got up and followed Sherry at a slower pace not surprised to find that she had disappeared by the time he'd reached the door. 

Wesker opened his eyes to heavy smoke and concrete dust. For a moment, he struggled to remember where he was. Ever so slowly it began to return to him. Miranda was somewhere within this rumble and he had to find her.

He remembered his dream about Miranda licking his face and suddenly realized that _something_ was doing just that. He sat up and stared at the undead dog standing next to him wagging its stub of a tail. At one time this dog had been a Doberman Pincher and a highly trained police dog by the look of its collar. It whined pitifully and Wesker noticed with disgust that it was slobbering blood. 

"Go!" He growled, pointing toward the street. The dog whined again and took off running in that general direction. Wiping off his face he stood and looked out over the remains of the hotel. Jacks was nowhere in sight. Frowning, he wondered if Jacks had thought he was dead and decided to cash in on his apparent demise. 

"Wesker!" Miranda's desperate cry slid into his ears like a cold chill. By the sound of things, he wouldn't like what he found.

"Jacks." Wesker spoke into his com-link. Angry, he wondered where Jacks had gone. Had he been too worried about saving himself to save Miranda?

"Captain." Jacks voice came back strained. Miranda's scream was louder in the background. "Help her." Jacks voice was hoarse. 

"Jacks!" Miranda's outcry was raspy. The zombie moan in the background sent shock waves through Wesker's body. He could only imagine what the creature was doing to her. Wesker followed the sound of the frantic screams and found them instantly.

Miranda Harley was thinking of a wolf. She'd often heard when wolves were caught in a trap they would chew their own legs off to get free. If she'd had enough room to move within her own concrete trap, she certainly would have tried. 

The zombie was still pulling, gathering force with each yank. Miranda whimpered, her shoulder slamming into the slab hard enough to bruise. She'd given up calling for Wesker. For some reason he either hadn't heard her or didn't care. 

"Just pull me out already!" She shouted at the zombie. For a split second the zombie paused as if it had understood her, then resumed wrenching at her arm. She wished she could see something through the crack but she could not. 

A strange whoosh resonated on the opposite side of the crack and Miranda imagined that something far bigger was about to have her entire body for a snack. She closed her eyes and promised herself that no matter what, she would not scream again. She would _not _let these horrendous monsters know that she was afraid of them anymore. If she somehow survived this ordeal, she swore things would change for her. 

Albert Wesker grabbed the zombie by the head and turned it roughly, the bones making a loud crack in the sudden silence. It moaned in protest and fell as Wesker shot it between the eyes. 

Gripping the sides of the concrete slab trapping Miranda, Wesker threw it to one side and she fell into him, throwing her arms around him. "Oh Wesker." Miranda choked out. Slowly, he put his arms around her and gently patted her back. The gesture was all together dispassionate. Miranda pushed away and looked up at him. Something about the way he'd held her had changed even though she wasn't sure what it was. 

Wesker grabbed her arm and inspected it for cuts and bruises. By his expression, Miranda could tell he was not pleased with his findings. Letting go of her, he walked to another piece of slab and leaned down. To her horror, Miranda saw that Jacks was lying beneath it. She couldn't believe he was still alive.

Wesker picked up the concrete with little effort and tossed it aside. Jacks sat up and groaned, sucking in a much-needed breath. He picked up his gun and dusted it off, placing it back in its holster. His AK-47 was gone. 

"Give her a shot of the serum I made for Davis." Wesker said, as if he were not at all surprised to find Jacks alive. "That virus works off any open wounds. Get some pain killers, a needle and thread. She needs stitches."

Jacks got to his feet and frowned. "How the hell do you expect me to find all that? Have you looked around lately?" 

"I can see perfectly well, Jacks." Wesker growled. "But I also have confidence that you will find what I'm asking you for." Miranda came to stand next to Wesker and placed a hand on his arm.

"Thank you." She said softly. Wesker felt his stomach tighten. She'd never said that to him before. He stared down at her for a long moment, the dream passing through his mind. He gave her a half smile and turned away, pushing the com-link at his ear. 

"Riley, where are you?" His deep voice was filled with something Miranda couldn't quite understand.

"In the sewers. Ada and Leon found the entrance and Annette Birkin is here shooting everything in sight. You guys had better get here quick. Chief Irons is dead."

"Damn." Wesker muttered under his breath. "The two of you stay here until you've given her the serum. Then come find me. I'll give you further instructions at that time." He turned to Miranda and patted her shoulder. "Be careful." He whispered. He recognized that something about her had changed. He was, in a way, glad. He had a feeling Miranda was no longer afraid of zombies and he hoped his feeling was right. 

The sewer was dark and it stank. It wasn't just the smell of human waste. Like the city, it reeked of death. Riley was sloshing through the mire mumbling. Sherry had done a number on his nose and it hurt to make facial expressions. Not to mention the fact that he was almost certain, without looking in a mirror, he had a black eye. He'd figured out that Leon and Claire had FRS Radios and had been using them to communicate back and forth. It was how he'd learned of the death of Chief Irons. 

He was more than happy to hear of the Chief's death. He'd studied the history of the Mr. Irons before coming to Raccoon City and he'd learned that the Chief was a very bad man indeed. Riley had no remorse for someone who hurt children.

He'd also heard from Claire and Leon that they were attempting to escape through the sewers. It was apparent that neither of them knew about the monster roaming around. Something made a loud splash behind him and he turned quickly, his gun ready. Ada stood and brushed herself off. 

"What are you doing here?" Riley asked, somewhat relieved. 

"The Captain told me to follow the girl. Remember? She disappeared and he told me to find her." Ada said curtly.

"Well, that's understandable. She does have the G-virus you know." Riley said. He moved to her and put a hand on her arm. 

"What happened to you? You look like...oh I don't know. But that's bad. Can you see?" So it was true, Riley sighed. He did have a black eye.

He nodded. "Oh sure, but it's the nose that hurts." 

"Jacks do that?" Ada smiled slightly. "He's such a hot shot."

"Sure did." Riley lied. He wasn't about to tell her that an eight-year-old girl had done it. They walked together, silent for a moment. "So what's going on? Is it likely that we'll get the G-virus?"

Ada waited for a few more minutes before she shrugged. "I have no clue." 

Riley glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and noticed that she was wearing a gold necklace with a large pendant gleaming eerily in the dim light. He started to ask her about it as they crawled into a sewage pipe entrance, but Ada stopped suddenly and turned back to him. " I really like you, Riley. You're a good guy." 

He smiled at her and raised an eyebrow. "Does that mean you're still my girlfriend?" Before he could say more, Ada grabbed his chin and pulled his mouth against hers. Riley closed his eyes, not sure what to make of her audacity. "Ada." He whispered. "I..."

"Yeah." She said and kissed him again. Something seemed wrong with her kiss. He wasn't sure why, but there was something not quite right with the whole situation. Then before he could stop her, Ada was gone, crawling away on her own and telling him that she would see him again soon. 

Riley sighed happily, ignoring the ever-growing suspicions in his mind. Perhaps Ada wasn't as bad as everyone tried to make her out to be. 

William Birkin stomped by above her and Annette froze. How could she have let this situation get so far out of hand? Now her husband was after Sherry and there was nothing she could do about it. There was no reasoning with a monster. 

She wondered if Miranda Harley would have been angry with them if she'd known the truth. Annette had always wanted a child, but after she got one, there never seemed to be enough time for her. Work was vitally important and she wished she'd have listened to Albert Wesker when he'd warned her about the dangers of having a child underneath Umbrella territory. She'd shrugged him off at the time, unaware of what Umbrella was capable of. She'd never trusted that upstart scientist, Albert Wesker, even though her husband thought him the most brilliant man alive. 

But Wesker hadn't been nearly as good a scientist as he was Captain of the S.T.A.R.S. He was a brilliant man. His mind was put to better use with tactical procedures. She'd been almost glad when they told her that Wesker had been killed in the mansion incident. She had always been afraid of him. 

Who she should have been afraid of was her own husband. She had no idea that he would do something like this to himself. Annette Birkin closed her eyes and sighed. In a little less than three days, he whole life had changed. She didn't have any illusions that she would survive these tragic events. She just prayed that she'd done the right thing for Miranda Harley's daughter. Even though she hadn't been the best mother, or even her real mother, she still loved the Sherry dearly. But, would that be enough to save her? 

"Annette Birkin." the voice as always, was deep and melodic, filled with mystery and deceit. Annette opened her eyes and turned to face the man the voice belonged to. 

"Albert Wesker." She wanted to say more, but the words left her throat. This man should have been dead. Yet after everything she had been through lately, she was not that surprised. He nodded and she noticed that even in this dark room, he did not take off his sunglasses.

Wesker was the epitome of evil. She could feel it radiating off him like a desert sun. "Where is she?" The question came out a command. Annette continued to stare at him, her mind drawing up a blank. Who was he talking about? He must have noticed the questioning look. He scowled and adjusted the glasses. 

"She?" Annette's voice came out a pitiful squeak. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." 

"Oh yes you do, Annette. Where is she? Where is my daughter?" Wesker was standing with his legs spread apart and his arms crossed. His expression never changed. 

"Daughter?" Annette stuttered. She nearly fell backward in shock. Albert Wesker was Sherry's father? Miranda had had a child by this man? She coughed trying to expel the heavy knowledge even as it sunk deeper. 

"I don't believe I hesitated, Annette. Where is my child?" Wesker stepped closer to her and Annette sucked in a breath. There was definitely something different about him. He radiated power. She could almost touch it. 

"I sent her to the police station because I thought she'd bee safe." Annette answered pitifully. She'd already had this conversation with a young woman named Claire Redfield. 

"Just because they have guns does not make them protectors or the building secure. You might as well have sent my daughter into the heart of the city. The hospital perhaps." He paused in his ravings and took off his dark glasses. Even in the gloom Annette could see his eyes. They were the eyes of something no longer human. They were the eyes off the devil himself. 

Annette Birkin backed toward the wall and turned to run but even as she did so, she knew she had no chance. Wesker caught her easily and dragged her into the air by her hair. "Oh god." She gasped. "William gave you the…"

Angrily, Wesker jerked her head back. "Why did you not tell me about Sherry? It wasn't your right to keep a secret like that from me!" 

"Albert, I didn't know…We didn't know. She never told us who the father was and we never asked. We just wanted a baby!" Annette shouted, the pain in the back of her head a dull roar. 

"You never paid attention to her." Wesker growled. 

"And what would you have done? Tell me that, Albert Wesker. If it had been up to you, Sherry would never have been born." Annette shouted back. Wesker yanked her head back harder.

"Why is it that everyone else thinks they know me so well? You and she assumed everything right from the beginning. Didn't you?" Wesker shouted back. "Neither of you gave me the chance to make that decision."

"Albert, I swear we didn't know. Miranda just told us that she would give us a baby with no strings attached. There was no way I could turn down an offer like that." Annette had begun to sob. "I wanted a child so badly." 

"Obviously not." Wesker snarled, letting go of her hair. "You sent her to her death." 

"Sherry's…oh god no…" Annette choked. 

"As soon as your monstrosity of a husband gets a hold of her she will be." Wesker turned to walk away and stopped short in the doorway. "I should have killed you for what you did, Annette. But I think your date with destiny will bring about a fate worse than death." The door slammed in the sudden eerie silence.

With the serum injected and her arm patched up, Miranda Harley felt better. She and Jacks had made it half way across the city without any problems. The zombies had seemed to decrease in numbers and were now somewhat scarce.

While they were heading toward the sewers Miranda had kept an eye out for Sherry. She felt sure that if Sherry could just see her, she'd come with her. Unfortunately however, she couldn't see much of anything in the darkness. 

"The Captain is following Ada." Jacks said almost too quietly for her to hear. 

"Where's Riley?" Miranda asked. Jacks had stopped in front of a large sewer grating.

"He and Ada are…uh…" Jacks looked back toward her and Miranda noticed how strange Jacks eyes were. When angry, Jack's dark eyes flared an impossible bright green. "That moron! I warned him about her." 

"So did I." Miranda said putting a hand on Jacks shoulder. "Is Wesker mad?"

"Mad would be a better word for it, Ms. Harley." Jacks grabbed hold of the grating and pulled. His legs were braced and his arms muscles knotted as he yanked harder. Finally, with a loud groan the grate fell away and Jacks raised his gun. "Be careful down here Miranda and stay close to me. I'd advise using that gun of yours." 

Riley wasn't exactly sure how he and Ada had ended up alone in the Sewer Management room. But somehow here they were and something inside Riley's mind was screaming for him to stop.

He lifted Ada and sat her on the table in front of him. Their lips locked together passionately. He couldn't stop himself, not even if he wanted to. Ada had shirt and was pulling it up over his head. 

"Riley," She whispered against his lips. Riley liked the way she said his name, never mind the fact that she didn't sound very sincere saying it. The warning sirens in his head grew louder and he pulled his head back from her and listened to the silence. There was something amiss in the quiet room. 

"What are we doing?" He asked at last, his voice hoarse. "I'm not sure of this is right…"

"Right?" Ada spat, grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling him closer to her. "Who cares about being right?" She kissed him again, her lips blazing across his own. Riley didn't enjoy the taste he thought he should. The bottom of his stomach was dropping out. 

"Ada, wait." He said suddenly. "Something's not right. I can feel it. "

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ada sneered at him and Riley didn't find the expression all too beautiful. She tried to kiss him again but Riley pulled away. 

"Wait…" He stepped back and looked away, unsure of what to say. His mind kept returning to the same subject. There was something extremely wrong with this whole situation. Ada had been acting funny since he'd met her in the sewer earlier. When he'd first tried to get her to pay attention to him like this she'd ignored him and made a fool out of him. Now she was being affectionate and throwing herself at him. She was either trying to keep him from figuring something out, or she really wanted him. He was willing to bet on the first one. 

"Riley, what's wrong with you? You're acting like a…" Before Ada could finish, the door to the Management room burst open and a Licker leapt through, landing easily on all four legs. It hissed loudly and scrunched up its body. Riley knew it to be in an attack stance. The creatures assumed such positions when they were about to strike at their prey. Slowly, Riley reached for Ada and pulled her off the table. He'd learned that slow silent movements confused the creatures. Since Lickers had no eyes, they relied heavily on their acute sense of hearing. 

"Be quiet," Riley whispered in her ear. "It can't sense our exact location of if we're very quiet." 

"Kill it!" Ada shouted loudly. The Licker, which had lain still and stretched out its legs, resumed its attack stance and began slinking towards them. "What are you waiting for?" Ada shouted, louder this time. Riley reached into the back of his pant loop where he'd kept his gun and suddenly realized that it wasn't there.

Albert Wesker had been standing outside the Sewer Management Control area for a while, listening to the stillness around him. The dead body of one of the workers was leaned up against the wall almost as if it were planning to sit up and talk to him. Wesker ignored him. 

He'd also spent precious time trying to bring up a group of Surveillance monitors that sat unused in the far corner of the balcony. He'd been successful bringing up only three. One was currently showing that the Raccoon City weather station was still on the air. "Sunny with high clouds moving across the area. Fifty percent chance of rain by tomorrow morning?" Wesker read aloud. He laughed to himself and turned the monitor off. He wondered with a smile what zombie had put out that forecast. 

The other monitor showed what seemed to be a large trash area. He'd been looking for the former William Birkin but hadn't seen anything for the past hour. 

All his waiting finally paid off. To his surprise, he saw something drop from above camera like a fallen star and land on a trash pile not far away. Wesker leaned closer to the screen and realized that he was looking at Sherry. He turned instantly and leapt off the balcony, failing to see the no longer human William Birkin lumbering towards the child. 

The Licker crept closer to Riley and hissed again. It sounded like it was clearing its throat before saying grace. Riley stepped back and slammed into the table. There was no where else to go. He could try and leap over the table, but the Licker would catch him before he got very far. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Ada backing toward the door and he wondered vaguely why she wasn't bothering to help him. 

The Licker was right at his feet, its tongue tracing across his wounded leg. It paused for a moment, its body tensed and its head cocked to the side. It was confused. Riley could tell that it sensed something alive but tasted something dead. 

Riley tried for his gun. Once again, he came up empty handed. He was almost positive he'd put his gun in his belt loop. His shirt was gone and so was his gun. He wondered what the person who found him would think. If there was much of him left to think about. 

The Licker raised itself up on its hind legs and placed its talon hands on his shoulders. Riley was surprised to see how human the Licker's hands were. However, human hands or not this creature had no compassion, only the lust for human flesh. It hissed again and Riley caught a glimpse of massive teeth. To Riley Davis, it was almost like staring into his own open grave. 

The door slammed on its hinges behind the Licker and for some reason, Riley had the fleeting thought that he was about to be saved. As the Licker's tongue slid over his face, his eyes fell on a Hunter creeping into the room. Its body was poised for an attack of its own. It would kill the Licker to get a human meal. 

"Ada!" Riley shouted as the Hunter screeched. He couldn't see Ada but he had the strong feeling that she had no intention of helping him. 

Robert Jacks could sense that there were a whole lot of things going wrong at one time. It was an almost tangible force to him. Miranda Harley followed closely behind him unaware of what he was sensing. She was dealing with her own problems. 

"Where do they all come from?" She asked staring through a grate at a group of zombies reaching desperately for them. 

"This city averaged about two-hundred thousand people, as of three weeks ago. Do the math." Jacks snapped. Miranda raised her gun and squeezed an eye shut. Jacks slapped her hand down and grabbed her by the chin. "Don't be stupid, Ms. Harley. That's a waste of ammunition. They can't get to us through that." But even as he said it, the grate collapsed and the group of zombie filed into the sewers. 

"You were saying?" Miranda snapped as she backed toward the wall, her gun raised. She and Jacks began to fire and in minutes, the entire group of zombies lay motionless in the filthy water. 

Jacks nodded and turned away, returning to the path he'd been following on their quest to catch up with Captain Wesker. "Not bad." He said over his shoulder. "You and I make a pretty good team." 

"Good at killing zombies, anyway." Miranda said with a snort. 

"Ada!" Jacks stopped dead in his tracks as Riley screamed. 

"Riley!" Miranda shouted, sprinting past Jacks. The water splashed around her knees soaking the legs of her pants, but she didn't notice. Riley was in distress and she was going to help her friend. 

The sinking feeling in Jacks stomach returned and he knew that Riley was in a lot of trouble. " Miranda wait!" he shouted. " Reload on ammo and take this." He handed her a new clip for her .38 and handed her his gun. Miranda stared at him and then looked at the gun. It was a .38 as well. She held the guns out in front of her and all at once she felt powerful. "Don't let that go to your head." Jacks warned her. "This is not a video game. You can still die." 

Albert Wesker kneeled next to his daughter and felt for a pulse. He was almost afraid to touch her. She looked so fragile lying there on the trash pile. He wasn't sure what to do with her. 

She moaned weakly and he drew his hand back, studying her for wounds. He'd seen the Birkin monster in the hall, but had thought nothing of it until now. He'd learned from a conversation between Annette and Claire Redfield that Birkin would go after Sherry because it was easier to implant G-virus embryos in genetically related specimens. Didn't Birkin realize that Sherry was not really his daughter? Annette had also said that Birkin's human mind and memory was fading away. Perhaps he'd already forgotten. 

If William Birkin had injected embryos in her, they would pupate and kill her. There had to be a way to reverse the effects before that happened.

"Daddy?" The pitiful moan forced Wesker backward as something inside tugged at him. He wanted to tell her that he was right there, but he couldn't force himself to say the words. 

"Sherry?" A voice called from behind the trash bin door. Wesker concealed himself behind a pile of trash as Claire Redfield entered the room. He watched her closely. She looked exactly like her brother and for that he hated her. He would have shot her, but she picked up Sherry and whispered to her. 

"My stomach hurts." Sherry answered opening her eyes. At least she was wake. That was a good sign. Wesker vowed that no matter what happened to Sherry, he would not tell Miranda. He couldn't risk losing her too. 

Riley closed his eyes and prayed for a painless death. The Hunter leaned forward on his talon toes and began to growl. The Licker paused in its taste test and listened. 

"That's right, asshole." Riley said through his teeth. "Competition." He glanced at Ada once again and was not surprised that she was motionless against the wall. The door beside Ada burst open and Jacks stood in the entrance, his Magnum raised. Miranda stood behind him with her guns held up as well. Jacks inclined his head and Miranda shot at the Hunter. It screeched loudly and leapt toward them. Miranda continued to shoot undeterred. Even though she didn't realize it, her bullets were only making the monster angry. 

The Licker was very still and Riley was faintly aware that it was about to strike and saw its teeth just as another gunshot cracked through the air. Jacks appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the Licker around the neck, tossing it into the still advancing Hunter. The two monsters fell backward and began fighting each other. Riley fell to his knees and gasped for breath. He hadn't realized he'd been holding it.

As the two continued to fight, Miranda watched them. She was appalled at how human-like their motions were. Ada pushed past her as she headed for the door, but Miranda caught her by the arm and threw her up against the wall. "Where do you think you're going?" 

"Why should you care?" Ada snapped. 

"What's wrong with you? You just stood there. Are you blind or just stupid?" Miranda growled. She continued to hold Ada against the wall with her elbow against her throat. Ada started at her for a moment before she spit in her face. Miranda grabbed her and slammed her head into the wall. "Why didn't you help him?"

"Why should I? He's weak. Ask your precious Wesker what he thinks about the weak." Ada said through her teeth. Miranda stared at her, letting the words sink in. She knew very well what Wesker thought of others. 

"To Wesker, anyone who is not him is weak. Including you, Ada." Miranda said lightly. Ada elbowed her in the ribs. 

"Which means that he thinks the same of you, Miranda Harley." Ada grabbed her by the hair and yanked her head back. "All you are to him is a little slut." Miranda used her shoulder to keep Ada pinned against the wall. 

A gunshot sliced through the silence and the hunter shrieked harshly, falling to the floor. The Licker was already dead. 

Jacks turned toward the women and scowled. "Finish this." He helped Riley to his feet and checked him over. Finding nothing out of order, he handed him a small piece of cloth. Riley wiped his face and sighed. 

The distraction was enough for Ada to kick Miranda in the shin and shove her to the floor. "Why didn't you help him?" Miranda said as she stood. 

"Why didn't you help Wesker?" Ada stood at the door and glared at her. "You could have saved him, but instead, like the coward you are you stood by and watched."

Miranda jumped at Ada without a second thought her left fist connecting with Ada's jaw. As Jacks and Riley stood watching in shock, Miranda and Ada fell to the ground. Miranda continuously threw her fist into Ada's face. The anger washed over her like a flood. Ada grabbed her hair and the two women were a blur of fists and nails then all at once, blood.

"This could almost be erotic." Riley cracked. Jacks looked at him for a moment but didn't react. 

"You're weak, Miranda." Ada said through bloody teeth. Miranda hit her again. The anger was dominating her mind. 

Miranda lost control of herself. She was no longer seeing Ada; she was seeing the events in the mansion laboratory. She was watching again as Wesker fell to his knees the river of his blood sweeping towards her. She didn't even notice when Ada brought her elbow up and hit her in the nose. She continued hitting her as her vision swam and she saw Chris Redfield standing in front of her, his gun raised. A part of her exploded and she screamed uncontrollably. 

Jacks stared in disbelief at the two women fighting viciously. He hadn't expected Miranda to react the way she had. He didn't think she had it in her. She seemed as if she were in a trance. Riley inhaled sharply and Jacks looked up to see Captain Wesker standing in the door way his face expressionless. He caught Jacks' eye and frowned. 

Without warning, Miranda screamed the sound guttural and strange. Ada lay beneath her, in a puddle of blood; her face screwed into a hateful sneer. 

"Enough!" Wesker shouted suddenly. Miranda stopped instantly and turned to look at him. At Wesker's nod she stood and backed away from Ada. Ada stood as well and brushed herself off indignantly. Jacks was almost sure he saw her cheeks coloring. "I've had enough." Wesker growled. "There will be no more of this. Am I understood?" The four of them nodded but no one said anything. "Ada. Find Leon and lead him down into Umbrella's Underground Lab. Let him find the virus, then kill him. No use in wasting any more of our men on this." Miranda came to stand next to Jacks and Riley. Riley handed her his cloth and she put it on her bleeding nose. "You three come with me." 

Ada disappeared through the door on the other side of the room, but not before Riley caught a glimpse of his gun in the small of her back. After he was sure she was gone, Wesker turned back to the group standing before him. "What the hell was that?" 

Miranda shook her head. "It was nothing." She shrugged her shoulders. Riley and Jacks glanced at each other and then at Wesker. The Captain seemed to accept her answer. He took her elbow and stared into her eyes, but neither said anything. 

"Riley, can you figure out how to get a set of monitors working? I need surveillance for the Underground lab." Riley nodded wordlessly and followed them back into the sewers. "We'll get to the Lab and Miranda can help you. By the way..." Wesker paused and looked back toward him. "Where's your shirt?"

"You wouldn't believe it, but some of my groupies came running by and ripped it right off me." Riley said with a laugh.

"Groupies for a smart-ass? Yeah right." Jacks snorted. 

"What would you know?" Riley shot back. "You wouldn't know a groupie if it walked up and bit you."

"Ah. I see. Your groupies were zombies. Not surprising with you being their King and all… Just sexy enough for them." Jacks laughed. Wesker continued to hold onto Miranda's elbow as he led them into Umbrella's Underground Laboratory where they would end this whole fiasco by obtaining the G-virus and getting out alive.


	15. It's Not Fair

"I'm still a heck of a lot cuter than you." Riley snapped, turning his chair to glare at Jacks. Jacks was sitting at a table at the far side of the room, cleaning some of the guns they'd found in a weapon storage box. 

"Who said anything about being cute?" Jacks didn't look up; instead he was taking apart a rather large gun.

"What kind of gun is that?" Miranda asked quietly. She'd finally gotten her nose to stop bleeding and Wesker had found some ice for her hand. She was still in a sort of daze. What had happened earlier was confusing her. She couldn't believe what she'd done.

"It's a classic." Jacks said proudly. "An AR-15." 

"You know a lot about stuff like that don't you?" Miranda came to sit next to him, looking over the pieces. 

"Not nearly as much as smart-ass over there. He knows everything." Jacks snorted

"That's right. You're finally learning." Riley snickered. "Where'd I put that dog treat?" 

"Shut up." Jacks sneered. Miranda tried to conceal her smile with the back of her hand. "ET Tu Brute?" Jacks rolled his eyes at her. Miranda burst out laughing. She couldn't hold it any longer. 

"There's Sherry." Riley said, breaking the laughter. "She's in the locker room on the top level."

"I'm going." Miranda stood and Jacks grabbed her wrist. 

"Wait a minute." Jacks pulled her back into the chair.

"Claire Redfield is heading into the ice room." They'd named it the ice room after Wesker had come back from there with a trash bag of ice and icicles on his ear lobes. 

"She's getting the generator running right?" Jacks said, hooking his fingers around the trigger. "Maybe she's not as stupid as Wesker claims." 

"Of course she is." Miranda snapped. She closed her eyes and sighed heavily. Why were they keeping her from getting to her daughter? She was so close. What could possibly go wrong in such a short space? 

"Shit." Riley's voice was shaking. "Ada's injured. And I think the Birkin monster is dead. That son of a..."

"Harley?" Wesker's voice came through the communications port clearly as it filled the monitor room. "I need your help. I'm coming for you." Miranda opened her eyes in shock. Wesker needed her? That was something new. 

In a few moments Wesker appeared in the doorway and led Miranda into the lab where William Birkin had once worked to create the G-virus. She looked up at Wesker unsure of what he was about to do. 

He grabbed her and kissed her roughly, the need sparking between them. Then all at once, he turned away and flipped on a light. "Your nose is swelling, Harley." He said after a while. Miranda put a hand to the bridge of her nose and realized that he was right. She looked away from him, for some reason embarrassed. "Birkin is dead." He told her. 

"I know." She answered softly. 

"I want you to recreate a T-virus sample. I need Birkin's combat data." Wesker said, holding up an empty vial. "I'll leave you here." He turned toward the door. "Let me know when you've finished." 

"Wesker..." She didn't know exactly what had made her call out to him. She wondered if it had anything to do with her strange visions of Chris Redfield, her daughter, or him. Maybe it was all three. She put her arms around him and laid her head on his chest. She sighed softly as his arms encircled her and he kissed her on the temple. 

"What happened with Ada?" He asked at last, putting his hands on her shoulders and pushing her back to look at him. 

"She stood there while Riley was attacked by a Licker and didn't bother to lift a finger in his defense." Miranda turned to a research table and set the flame on a Bunsen burner. "I need some of your blood." Wesker nodded and took the knife from its holster on his leg. He sliced himself on the forearm and held it out to Miranda. "She had his gun." 

"Ada is a thorn in my side." Wesker said in a flat tone even as Miranda squeezed the deep wound. 

"Doesn't that hurt?" She glanced up at him in surprise. 

"Hardly." Wesker snorted. 

"What else has she done?" She poured the pan of blood into the glass vial on the burner. 

"What hasn't she done?" Wesker rolled his eyes. Miranda barely caught it because of his dark glasses. "She's seems to be falling for Leon S. Kennedy." 

"So?" She found chemicals in a storage tank under the table. Kneeling, she searched through them.

"So?" Wesker repeated, wiping at his already healing arm. "A spy is supposed to carry out the mission like a machine. Where do emotions fit into that?"

Miranda placed some of the chemicals on the table and shrugged "So kill them." 

"I plan to." Wesker answered. 

Riley Davis sat at a wall of monitors and watched Ada as she followed Leon around. He was disappointed in himself. What had possessed him to run after Ada Wong with his tongue hanging out and blind to the world? She had totally humiliated him. He refused, however, to let that get him down. He should have listened to Jacks and Miranda. Although they were right, he'd never admit that to them. 

He glanced over at Jacks. He was putting together his gun as if it were a jigsaw puzzle he'd done a thousand times. "You think we'll get out of here alive?" Riley asked. He wasn't sure what to say. It wasn't like they were friends. He didn't blame Jacks for hating him. After all, it had been Riley's fault he'd lost his entire crew. 

"I doubt it." Jacks rolled his eyes. "Why do you waste your breath on stupid questions, moron?" Riley turned away and gazed at the active monitors in front of him. Miranda's daughter Sherry was very sick. It was obvious in the pallor of her skin. 

"Birkin infected the little girl," he said almost to himself. 

"So what? She's just a little girl. A nuisance at the least." Jacks' gun clicked loudly as he put the clip back in place. "They all are." He said bitterly. Riley caught the tone and was puzzled by it. Why would Jacks care enough to make a comment like that? There was evidently more to him than he was willing to reveal. Riley chose not to continue the subject. 

Jacks stood and laid the gun on the table. "Got any views of that Redfield chick?" 

Riley nodded and brought up an image of her on the large monitor in the center of the room. "She's got nice legs." Riley said with a smile. 

"No kidding." Jacks leaned closer and stared at her. " It would have been better if she'd worn a skirt like that Valentine lady. Now that was..." Jacks voice dropped away instantly and he cocked his head to listen. Riley strained to hear as well, but heard nothing unusual. "A Licker." Jacks said with a growl. "Son of a..." He laid a handgun in front of Riley and picked the AR-15. "Be right back." 

Riley watched in silence as Jacks disappeared through a door on one side as Wesker appeared through a door on the other. His mind was swimming and his leg was beginning to throb. "Where did he go?" Wesker popped his knuckles and looked down at Jacks' gun lying on the keyboard. 

Riley shrugged. "He's looking for a little tongue action."

"Not funny." Wesker said sharply. "Get that garbage off the screen." Riley changed the view and the two of them were suddenly staring at the MR. X prototype lumbering toward Jacks. 

Jacks was firing his gun into a Licker that was already dead. He couldn't help it. He was frustrated and tired. His mind was still playing the images of his sisters' deaths over and over again. It was making him sick. He thought by destroying the Umbrella Operatives he would eliminate the images, but it had only made them stronger. All he wanted to do was to forget. 

It would have been better to forget all together then to replay memories that would never change the past. If he continued to dwell on them, he would never be a good soldier. A clouded mind led to death. It was a Siren song all its own. 

The arm that slammed into his back was as surprising as it was painful. Jacks dropped to his knees as another wave of pain erupted from his shoulders. He dropped his gun as the sensation swept over him anew and he lost the use of his fingers. He turned his head slightly and saw the X prototype looming over him as it swung an arm that sent him flying. He wasn't sure why he didn't fight back. He just couldn't force himself to move. His mind was still clouded with the images of his sisters. Closing his eyes so he wouldn't have to watch the X Tyrant moving slowly toward him, Jacks braced himself for a painful demise. 

"Hey ugly!" The voice was unmistakable. It belonged to the smart-ass scientist Riley. "Your momma was a pigeon!" The gunshots splattered into the monster with a sickening sound, but didn't seem to phase it. It turned slowly toward Riley and began to advance on him. Riley continued to shoot, undeterred. Jacks shook himself out of his thoughts and dived for his own gun. But even as he raised it, the Tyrant fell to its knees with a groan.

Jacks stood and scowled deeply. "Your mother was a pigeon? What the hell does that mean?" 

"It means I saved your butt, bird brain." Riley commenced into a victory dance. 

"You did no such thing. I had the situation under control." Jacks shot back.

"Yeah okay. You're welcome." Riley smiled victoriously and returned to the monitor room. 

Jacks slammed his fist into the wall beside him. What was happening to him?

"Jacks." Wesker stood behind him, an eyebrow raised. Jacks whirled to face him. 

"What the hell's happening to me?" He shouted angrily. 

"Meaning?" Wesker's expression never changed. 

"I fell six stories and didn't die. I just got the crap kicked out of me by that X prototype and I don't have scratch on me. It doesn't make any sense." Jacks inspected his body for wounds that weren't there.

"There's no time to worry with superficial things." Wesker answered with a snarl. "I need you to inject what's left of Birkin with the T-virus and collect his combat data. Meanwhile I have to take care of Ms. Wong." 

Jacks nodded and walked past Wesker into the Monitor room. "You did not." He shouted. Wesker rolled his eyes and handed Jacks the T-virus that Miranda had concocted. He watched as Jacks reloaded the AR-15 and jerked his handgun out of Riley's hands and stomped out. 

"You'd think he was ungrateful or something." Riley sneered at Wesker. 

Miranda was halfway out the door when Albert Wesker grabbed her arm. "Where are you going, Harley?" His voice held a deadly warning. She looked up at him and sighed. 

"Wesker…listen to me." Something inside of Miranda was screaming for her to keep her mouth shut and go back to the monitor room. But she wasn't listening to it. Wesker raised an eyebrow and frowned. "We have to save Sherry. You know as well as I do that she would have a better chance of living if she were with us. We need to..." 

"We need to do absolutely nothing, Harley!" Wesker slammed his fist into the wall beside her head. Miranda jumped in spite of herself. "I am sick and tired of hearing about Sherry. She means nothing to either of us…_Does_ she?" He glared at her but didn't give her the chance to answer. "I refuse to compromise any more of this mission for a child. I will not do it and I will not hear any more about it from you!" He narrowed his eyes, his fist still in the wall. Miranda glowered at him. "Get back to the Monitor room and stay there until I come for you. Undermine me Miranda, and so help me I'll feed you to the Lickers myself." He roared. "Now go!" Miranda turned and ran, barely able to catch the faint sound of Wesker's heavy footsteps heading in the opposite direction.

When she reached the Monitor room, she sat in a chair and put her head in her hands. She wasn't sure why, but the feeling of helplessness would not leave her. Something grim was about to happen and she could do nothing but sit back and watch. 

Riley came and sat next to her, rubbing her shoulders. "Don't worry, M. She'll be all right. After all…she _is_ your daughter." 

"Riley…I…" Miranda sighed. "She's…there's something wrong with her isn't there?" Riley shook his head. There was no way he was going to tell Miranda the truth. If he did, she would disappear to find Sherry and Wesker would kill them all. Miranda was a wonderful friend, but Riley knew that Wesker wouldn't care about friendships when it came to a matter like this. Miranda's life was worth a thousand of theirs. 

"She's fine." He hated to lie, especially to a friend. It was worse to know that he was lying to a mother. "Claire Redfield is taking care of her." 

"Claire Redfield?" Miranda shouted, throwing her hands in the air. "How can she take care of her? What does she know?" Riley looked back toward the monitor and saw Claire mixing up some kind of chemical in the Birkin Lab. Despite the bad blood between them all, there was no denying that the Redfield's were smarter than they looked. Wesker was seriously underestimating them, and it was bound to come back to haunt him. 

Jacks knelt next to the body of William Birkin and spit. He'd never seen anything uglier than this in his life. He could think of better things to be doing at the time, but if it meant helping to destroy Umbrella, he would do it gladly. 

He picked up the creature's arm and noticed the large eye that rolled around in the socket on the monster's biceps. It was true that William Birkin had once been a great scientist, nevertheless he was now nothing more than a monster. He was a soulless creature with no other knowledge apart from death. It sounded a lot like himself and Wesker. The similarities were uncanny.

He reached into his chest pocket and removed the syringe filled with the T-virus. "Now hold still," He mumbled to the unmoving creature. "This may sting a little." No sooner had he injected the virus, the Birkin monster stretched out its body and roared. The sound sent shock waves through the underground lift. Jacks stepped back and discarded the syringe in a nearby wastebasket, although he wasn't sure why it mattered. 

"Sherry!" Birkin shouted in an animal roar. Jacks was surprised that the creature could still talk.

"She's not here," He said aloud, once again he wasn't sure why he'd bothered. Wesker wasn't likely to be happy that he was aggravating the monster. It was like poking a stick at a rabid dog. 

"Where…is…she?" Birkin's words came out haltingly as he forced his animal throat to produce human sounds. 

"Dead." Jacks answered crudely. 

"Dead…?" Birkin ventured. "The…embryos…didn't…she's not even…mine." Jacks stared at him incredulously. If Sherry wasn't his then whom did she belong to? 

"Not even yours?" It was easier to press the monster for the answers. 

"Har…I cannot…remember…anymore…" Birkin stuttered, sounding confused. It didn't really matter who Sherry belonged to. Like her family and his, she was bound to die in Raccoon City. 

"Kill them." As Jacks spoke the words a chill ran over his body. The words came out evil, as if something else had been directing him to say it. "Kill them." William Birkin stood and looked at him with eyes that, like Wesker, were no longer human. His immense height was evident as he towered over Jacks. 

Jacks reached for his AR-15 and prepared to fire. "Kill…" Birkin didn't bother to finish the sentence. He raised a clawed arm that was covered in oozing blood and hit Jacks across the face, sending him over the railing and into the void below. Then, Birkin turned and began walking slowly to where he sensed his greatest threats were trying to make their escape. 

Albert Wesker stood in the darkness of the generator room as Leon Kennedy passed him for the third time without sensing his presence. He scowled as Leon looked forlornly at the entrance to the main hallway where Ada had been resting in the locker room. This Leon had been the main subject of the problems with Ada and Riley. 

The more he watched Ada, the more he'd begun to realize that she had begun to harbor some sort of an affection for Leon. He'd been subject to problems of this nature before with Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield. That was why he'd gone out of the way to separate them during the whole mansion disaster. 

He watched as Leon reached for the door leading to the downstairs lab and Ada called out his name. Finally she moved out to meet him. She had not seen Wesker at all, which agitated him as well. She was not aware of her surroundings, as she should be. He listened to their conversation and to his ire, Ada mentioned something about loving Leon. 

Ada asked for the G-virus, but when Leon protested, Wesker realized that Ada would not kill him for it. Angrily, Wesker raised his gun and shot her in the back. Ada stumbled forward and fell over the railing. She would have continued falling if Leon hadn't caught her arm. 

For a moment Wesker toyed with the idea of killing Leon but to Ada's credit, she knew who had shot her and why. She let go of Leon's hand and plummeted down ward into the darkness. Wesker leapt off the platform on the opposite side. While Ada certainly had been more trouble than she was worth, like Riley Davis and Miranda Harley, she was still of some use to him. He would save her for the last time. 

Miranda and Riley watched as the Birkin monster strode out of the blackness and towards the train on the lower level of the Underground Laboratory. "Where's Jacks?" Riley leaned in closer to the monitor squinting. 

Miranda leaned over him and looked as well. "I don't see anything." 

"Riley," Wesker's voice was oddly close. Miranda turned and jumped. Albert Wesker was standing behind her. He smiled slightly and unceremoniously dumped an unconscious Ada on the table next to him. 

"Don't do that, man! Jeez!" Riley shouted. His eyes lingered on Ada for a moment before he turned back to Wesker. 

"Get ready to leave here." Wesker ignored them, not amused with Miranda's snicker. 

"Why? Isn't this a good vantage point for the Birkin fight?" Riley shrugged his shoulders. "I mean come on. I've sold Pay-per-view tickets and everything."

"This is not a joke, Davis." Wesker snapped. "I will say this one time only. Get ready to leave." Turning on heel, Wesker stomped to the door. "I'll give you ten minutes." 

"Well, I thought it was funny," Miranda whispered to him. 

Jacks opened his eyes to a cold and wet atmosphere. He realized at once that he was back in the sewers. "Son of a…" Jacks sat up and slapped his arms in the nasty water. 

"Jacks," Wesker's voice came across the com-link. Filled with water however, his voice sounded strange. 

"Here, Captain." He answered. His own voice was weak. His entire body was aflame. Yet once again, he was not dead. 

"Good." Wesker was angry about something; it was evident in his tone. "Leon Kennedy seems to have thrown the G-virus sample into the sewer way below. It also appears that Umbrella has a salvage team out looking for it. Find it before they do. Kill them and get to the designated meeting ground. We will meet you there by sunrise." Before Jacks could respond, the com-link beeped ending the transmission. 

"The self-destruct sequence has been activated. All personnel evacuate immediately." The mechanical woman's voice began to repeat itself as Jacks stood. Looking up toward the void above him Jacks suddenly realized what was happening. Wesker intended to blow up the Underground Lab. It was obvious that the Captain had a theory. If he wasn't going to get what he wanted then no one else would either. 

"The self-destruct sequence has been activated. All personnel evacuate immediately." The female voice began to drone on. Miranda stood and stared at Wesker who had just finished typing something on the large computer in front of him.

"What have you done?" A chill ran through her body as he smiled at her. 

"What do you think?" He adjusted his dark glasses and crossed his arms. 

"You can't do that!" Miranda shouted. She didn't know why she was suddenly being so irrational. "You can't do that." 

Wesker stepped out of his stance and walked toward her, grabbing her arms and hauling her against him. "You have no idea what I can do." She was so close she could see into his eyes and she didn't like what she saw there. 

"Wesker, Sherry's here. You can't just do this. It's not fair!" She protested. 

"I can do whatever I want. The sooner you learn that the better off you are. " He hissed in her ear. "Do _not_ defy me, Harley. You _will_ regret it." Miranda closed her eyes against the fear that was rising up within her. He let go of her and moved to Riley. "There's no way to reverse this, Davis. Don't even try." He grabbed Riley roughly by the arm and threw him across the room. "Let's go."

Riley picked himself up and scowled. "Let's go then." He shrugged. Wesker picked up Ada just as roughly as he had thrown her down. He tossed her over his shoulder like a rag doll, and stormed out the door ahead of them. As soon he was out of sight, Miranda seized Riley's arm and shook it. 

"Help me find out where Sherry is. Please, Riley. I've got to find her." She searched his eyes, willing him to understand. 

"But Wesker will…" Riley's voice cut short as he saw Miranda's pleading look. "Oh all right. But make sure you put flowers on my headstone for the rest of your life."

"Flowers for the dead." Miranda said softly. The words sent a shiver down her spine. 

"Do you suppose Ozwell Spencer knew what was going to happen here?" Riley looked at her over his shoulder as he typed rapidly. 

"Of course he did." Miranda answered. "When death was alive… Sound like our situation to you?" 

"Sure it does, but how would he know? I mean really." As he spoke the image of Claire carrying Miranda's daughter appeared on the screen. She was taking her into the train station. 

"Ozwell was a genius." Miranda was staring at the screen. "Is…a genius…however you want to interpret his riddle." The Birkin monster was following Claire at slower pace. Miranda reached under the computer station and dragged out the rocket launcher Jacks had pointed out to them in case of an "extreme" emergency. This, to her, qualified as an emergency. It was entirely too heavy for her to pick up. She'd have no choice but to drag it. "I'm going."

"Miranda…wait!" Riley shouted. "No!" But Miranda wasn't listening. She hefted the rocket launcher as best she could and disappeared through the opposite door. Wesker was not going to like this at all. Riley could almost imagine what his head would look like on a pig pole.

Jacks stood listening to Hunk as he gave his report to Umbrella. Hunk, Umbrella's new version of the late great Albert Wesker, had found the G-virus and was heading to the top of the Police Station for the helicopter to pick him up. It would have been easy to ease his gun around the corner and snipe Hunk before he even knew what was happening, but Jacks was tired of doing things the easy way. He wanted to have a little fun. After all, he deserved it and there was no Captain Wesker here to restrain him. 

Smiling, he fired the gun into the wall beside Hunk. The big man jumped and looked toward the wall. He dashed up a set of metallic stairs. Hunk looked down, his gun drawn and pointed toward the doorway where Jacks stood in the darkness. 

Feeling satisfied that nothing was coming for him, Hunk turned and ran through the door at the top of the stairs. Jacks was close on his heels. 

Miranda made it all the way to train station before she could carry the Rocket launcher no longer. She didn't know how anyone could manage to carry it on they're shoulder. She sat on a metal grate stairway and sighed loudly as the metallic female voice droned on about the self-destruct sequence. 

She was well aware of the fact that Wesker was probably not coming to save her this time. She'd been warned twice about the dire consequences of disobeying him. She didn't doubt for a moment that he was telling the truth. Nevertheless, she couldn't let anything happen to Sherry. 

She had the odd feeling that Riley had lied to her about Sherry's well being. She knew deep within her that something was terribly wrong with her daughter and she was bound and determined to make sure she was okay. Miranda swore that she would get her daughter out of this place if it were the last thing she ever did. She may not have ever been any kind of mother to Sherry, but she would give her daughter the only real gift she could, the gift of life. 

The monster of the late William Birkin strode into the room on legs that were growing larger by the moment. He had lost almost all his human qualities, except his pants. 

Was this what her virus had done to him? Perhaps some of the G-virus in Wesker's blood racing through his veins was making Birkin grow so enormously. 

"Shh…erry…" the monster choked out. Miranda was not surprised that he was also losing the human capability to speak. Staring at the monster was like staring into a mirror in a bizarre sort of way. Miranda realized for the first time since she'd arrived in the desolate Raccoon City, that from here on out things were not going to get any easier. If she didn't get her act together and be brave, she was going to die. It was the cold hard truth. 

Robert Jacks hadn't expected the police station to lose power so quickly. The hallway between the garage and the stairs was pitch black. He could no longer hear the female voice that had been warning of eminent destruction and he was glad. It was driving him crazy.

Hunk was struggling with a Licker that had jumped on him. Angrily, Jacks shot the Licker and watched its head fly backward as it fell away. Hunk gave a gasping sigh of relief and disappeared around a corner, farther into the darkness. Jacks grinned wildly.

Ever since he'd promised Wesker his life, he'd never been the same. He'd signed up with an underground army that was training for the end of the world. He'd never believed in their ideas necessarily, but they'd had unending knowledge of firepower and war-like strategies. While in the service of the "Last Day Militia", he'd discovered he loved to hunt. When he did so, he felt as if he were in his element; as if he were doing something that was a part of his nature. He couldn't remember that feeling from his youth, a feeling that was now sweeping over him warmly. He stood in the hallway and once again began to stalk his prey.

When Wesker had come to find him, they had executed the entire Militia. Wesker had told him that to become a true operative for the HCF one must obliterate their past. It wasn't as easy as he told his Captain it was. It wasn't that easy to forget the two innocent little girls who had died because of his foolishness.

"Help me..." the female voice was weak, a mixture of exhaustion and pain. Jacks stopped dead in his tracks and turned toward the sound of the noise. He cocked his head to listen. "Oh please..." The voice was crying. 

Jacks turned, his eyes squinted. The young girl was siting against a wall, holding one of her arms. Even in the dark he could tell she was bleeding profusely. He could almost smell it on her. The smell sent sensations through him that were surely not human. He knelt next to her, his stomach rumbling. 

"What do you want?" He felt like a vampire in a way. Her blood was overwhelming him. 

"Please help me. It hurts so badly," as she spoke, Jacks looked into her face. What he saw there shocked him. She looked exactly like his youngest sister, Nessa. He slid his arms underneath her and picked her up, her small moan almost destroying him. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with her just yet, but for some reason he couldn't just leave her to die. 

"Riley! Harley! Let's go!" Wesker shouted, flinging open the door to the monitor room. Riley was standing alone pretending he hadn't heard. 

"Where is she?" Wesker didn't even have to look to know that Miranda was not there. Riley looked toward him still shaking. He looked guilty. "Where the hell is she, Riley?" He roared. Riley stared at him his mouth opening and closing, but he was soundless. Angrily, Wesker pitched Ada on the table, grabbed Riley's shoulders, and shook him. Riley looked toward the monitor slowly and Wesker followed his gaze. Miranda stood with her gun pointed at the Birkin monster as it stumbled toward her. 

"Y…ou..." It choked out. "Sh...erry's....moth...er..." The words were muddled and strange. His voice box was deteriorating. Interesting. Miranda didn't seem to be afraid. She adjusted the gun and aligned it with the monster's face. Suddenly, Birkin turned away from her and headed up the stairs behind her, stumbling as he did so. 

Wesker slammed his fist into the monitor as he saw Miranda heave a Rocket launcher from under the steps and drag it behind her as she followed it. He picked up a chair to the right of him and hurled it across the room narrowly missing a rendezvous with Riley's head. 

"Wesker, I'm sorry." Riley said finally. He was whining. "She just..." He almost slipped to Wesker about Miranda's daughter. He had no idea that Wesker already knew. 

Wesker growled audibly and gestured toward Ada. " Take her and run…"

"Five minutes until detonation." The mechanical female voice changed and began repeating a new message. "All employees report to the emergency elevator at the bottom platform." 

"Take her to the train tunnel and run as fast as you can, Riley. Miranda and I will catch up with you at the opening of the tunnel. Now go!" As Wesker spoke Ada woke up and was staring at them, her eyes going wide. Riley grabbed her arm and the two of them ran out the door as Wesker disappeared toward the Train station. 

Jacks sat the girl down in the hallway near the interview rooms. The girl was still sobbing as he moved away and began to load his magnum. He knew without a doubt that he would have to kill her. She'd been complaining that her skin was on fire and she was itching. She'd also said she was hungry and started trying to take bites out of his arm. 

"I don't want to die." She said pitifully. "I want to go home." Jacks glanced towards her and he smiled. For the time being, he'd forgotten about Hunk and the G-virus. 

"There's no such thing as home," Jacks said aloud, the silence seemed to move and waver as if it were alive. 

"There is," she insisted. Her words gurgled. "My brother and my sister live there...we've got a white cat that lives with us..." Jacks shook his head. It was only a coincidence that this girl sounded like his youngest sister. It wasn't Nessa, it couldn't be. "We were..." She got to her feet slowly and stumbled toward him, a soft moan escaping. "Help me..." She reached for him and dug her nails into his arm. Jacks dropped his gun in surprise. He pushed her back and bent to pick it up. She fell on him again, making a rasping sound in her throat. She bit into his neck and Jacks stumbled backward, his back hitting the door behind him hard. As Robert Jacks wrestled the girl who reminded him of his sister, he realized his fatal mistake in not killing her immediately. The zombies poured out of the room behind him and reached for him. There were too many of them to escape.

Miranda stood on the catwalk above the train and watched the fight unfold below her. It didn't seem that Claire Redfield was having much luck. The mechanical voice had changed and was now counting down the time left until the Underground lab would detonate. Miranda couldn't fool herself any longer. It just wasn't feasible that she would get out of here alive. But Sherry and Claire Redfield would. 

She lifted the rocket launcher to waist level. "Here!" She shouted, tossing it to the ground below. "Use this!" Claire looked up briefly then ran for the large gun. Miranda saw Claire's fingers close around it before someone grabbed her around the waist and dragged her backward. She fought briefly before she realized who held her. Claire Redfield disappeared behind her. 

"What's wrong with you?" Wesker shouted angrily. Miranda turned her face away and did not answer. "Fine. I should have left you here to die." Wesker checked his watch and scowled. 

"Why didn't you?" Miranda snapped. 

"Don't be a fool, Harley." Wesker snapped back. Miranda glared at him and sighed loudly. "We've got to get out of here." He placed a hand on her arm but she shrugged it off. 

"I can't leave her," she said quietly. Before he could catch himself, Wesker raised a hand and slapped her across the face. Miranda raised her chin in defiance. She was not going to let him know he'd hurt her. 

"We're leaving." Wesker said, malice dripping off his words. 

"No." Miranda said harshly, she was doing her best to conceal her tears. 

Wesker took off his dark glasses and threw them down. "This is not a discussion." He grabbed her roughly and threw her over his shoulder, her world a blur as he raced toward the tunnel entrance.


	16. Fresh Air

Riley and Ada stumbled into the open air both squinting against the bright morning sun. Had the last few days passed so quickly? Ada coughed and sat down, her back still bleeding. Wesker hadn't even bothered to patch her wound after saving her from her fate. 

Riley was no longer cared about. He realized that as he stared at her. He'd seen the love scene that had occurred between her and Leon and he understood at last that she had been using him to get a drop on Wesker. He would not make a mistake like her again.

He wondered if Miranda was ok. When he left, Wesker had been mad enough to kill her. Riley hoped he'd seen past that and was bringing her out with him. 

The sun was shinning brightly and Riley breathed it in. Surprisingly, this air was clean and fresh. Jacks appeared at the opening to the tunnel as an explosion rocked the ground beneath them. In less than a second, Jacks was standing next to him. 

"Well, well," Jacks snorted, not even out of breath. "I see the King of Zombies made it out safely." 

"You don't have to thank me, Jacks. I would have saved you anyway." 

"You did nothing of the sort." Jacks stretched and Riley was shocked to find that he was bleeding profusely. 

"I would start an argument about that, but...what happened?" He pointed to Jacks' arms and chest.

"Your subjects decided that I looked like a delectable treat." Jacks frowned. Until now, Riley had missed the fact that Jacks had been carrying a large black bag. 

"They usually know things like that." Riley shrugged. "Guns?" Jacks looked down at the bag as if seeing it for the first time. 

"Body parts." 

"What?" He and Ada asked simultaneously.

"Am I to guess you didn't get the G-virus?" Riley raised an eyebrow. Once again, they had something that Wesker going to be angry about. 

"Well, not exactly." Jacks looked toward the bag. Blood was seeping from it and pooling in the dirt. 

"And you didn't kill the Salvage team did you?" Riley looked toward the bag as well.

"There was only one left and no." Jacks didn't seem pleased with his answer. But before he could say more Wesker appeared before them. He hadn't even broken a sweat and he wasn't out of breath either. He plopped Miranda down on the ground next to Ada. 

"Jacks," He and Jacks nodded a greeting. "Did you get the G-virus?" 

"You okay?" Riley knelt next to Miranda and smiled.

"Claire killed Birkin. I think Sherry's okay." She whispered. 

Riley winked. "Of course she is." All the while, Jacks and Wesker had been talking in heated tones. 

"You didn't get the G-virus much less kill Hunk! What the hell did you do?"

"I saved my own ass..._Captain_." Jacks ground the words out slowly as he spoke angrily.

"I should have let you die!" Wesker shouted, shoving Jacks. Jacks tripped over the black bag and fell to the ground. Angrily, Jacks stood and shoved Wesker back. The two of them became a blur of fists and elbows. 

"Hey!" Riley shouted jumping to his feet. "Guys!" A light had come on in Riley's head. "Hey!" Miranda rose as well and stood next to Riley. 

"Oh lookie there. That one has no hair." A strange high-pitched voice rose above the clamor. The group stopped their scuffle as Miranda and Riley turned. 

"Did that bird just...?" Riley leaned forward and stared at the bird. It was fairly large, about the size of an eagle. But the only thing strange was the fact that this particular bird was yellow.

"Indeed I did, toilet lid." The bird said happily. Miranda was staring at it too. Something inside of her sparked. This bird was very familiar to her. Wesker watched her closely, recognizing her look instantly. 

"It's just a parrot." Jacks said curtly. "Kill it." He took the gun out of the back of his pants and pointed it at the bird.

"Eleanor?" Miranda knelt down and got closer to it. 

"Miranda...no." Wesker didn't know what else to say, the words had left him. 

"She's traveled here. She's traveled there. She's ridden the road to Oz. Though Glenda the good witch is long since dead, her wand still waves for the cause." The bird hopped closer to Miranda and seemed to stare into her eyes.

"Wand still waves?" Wesker snorted. 

"That's what I said, Banana Head." The bird cackled. Riley and Jacks laughed behind their hands. Wesker grabbed the gun from Jacks' and pointed it at the bird. 

"I hate rhyming birds." Wesker said through his teeth. 

"Oh dear, I'm a poet and didn't know it." The bird cackled again. The three of them groaned loudly. Ada sat watching, speechless. Wesker pulled back the hammer on the Magnum and the revolver turned slowly. The bird flapped its wings but did not fly away. 

"What do you want?" It was Riley's turn to ask the question. 

"In a place of big and small, where the ground has many eyes, fairy tales and folk lore live, as sure as the morning cries. You've always held the key, to the secrets and the cause. Brains, a heart, and courage, and a genetic freak in Oz. Know you now of days long past when the road to Oz was cast..." The bird once again stared at Miranda. She nodded soundlessly. For some reason she knew that the bird was speaking to her. 

"A bird that talks like a human. How do explain that?" Riley scratched his chin.

"You talk like a dumb ass and we're not surprised by that." Jacks cracked. 

"You shouldn't talk like that, your head's too fat." The bird admonished.

"Eleanor." Miranda said the name again and choked on the words. 

"That's enough." Wesker barked sharply. "What do you want?" 

"Who cares what it wants just kill it!" Jacks shouted. His pride was wounded. 

"Yes kill me, Captain Robert E. Lee."

"What?" Wesker growled.

"She's saying you're doomed." Miranda said distractedly, waving her hand toward them. "The road to Oz? Eleanor, I don't understand." 

"You know, my dear. Listen to your heart." 

"Oh god. This is pathetic." Wesker rolled his eyes. 

"As pathetic as you, Captain Pew." 

"You revolting little..." Wesker raised the gun again. 

All at once the Bird flew into the air and got close to Wesker's face. "From death we came and shall return. But on the day you walk away, will revenge taste just as sweet or will you live to die another day?" With the eerie words still echoing in the morning silence, the bird disappeared from sight. 

"What was that all about?" Riley sputtered at last. Wesker turned away from them. Something inside him told him that even if he hadn't understood the bird at the time, he would understand her soon. 

"Captain," Jacks interrupted his thoughts. "The Air Force has been ordered to destroy Raccoon City. We'd better go." 

Wesker nodded then looked toward Miranda. She was staring hopefully at the entrance to the train tunnel. After a few moments, a fireball came rolling out of the opening and his insides felt like rubber.

"Sherry!" Miranda cried so loudly, the words seemed to tear her throat raw. 

Wesker grabbed her by the arm before she could run towards the tunnel. "No." His voice was even and cool. Slowly Miranda turned to stare at him. "There's nothing we can do for her." Wesker wished that he felt as nonchalant as he sounded. He could see something in Miranda's eyes smoldering. She was getting angry. 

"This is all your fault!" Miranda hit Wesker on the side of the face with her fist clenched, snapping his head to the side. "You son of a bitch!" She dropped to her knees and put her head in her hands. Her shoulders began shaking violently. Wesker turned his head back slowly and looked down at her. 

"Jacks, take Ada to the treatment facility north of here. Riley go with them." He told them without looking up. His eyes were still trained on Miranda who was sobbing uncontrollably. 

"But Captain, the Air Force is going to annihilate Raccoon City in less than an hour…" Jacks interjected.

"I know!" Wesker shouted, his shoulders bunched as his voice rose. "Just go!" 

Jacks nodded with a frown and picked up Ada, no more affectionately than Wesker had. "Pick up that bag and come on, Riley." Riley made a move toward Miranda but was stopped short by Wesker. The thought crossed his mind that he hadn't even blinked before Wesker had seized his arm. 

"Leave us!" Wesker shouted, thrusting him toward the black bag. Miranda continued to weep, not even noticing the events surrounding her. Reluctantly, Riley picked up the bag and once more looked toward Miranda. Wesker had turned his back on them and was watching her as well. "Go before I lose my patience." His voice was a low growl. Jacks took hold of Riley's arm and turned him away. After a few moments they were gone from sight. 

Albert Wesker knelt next to Miranda and put his arms around her. Her whole body was shaking as she laid her head on his chest. "She was just a little girl, Wesker…" her words were gasping sobs. He looked down at her, the feeling deep inside of him strange and unfamiliar. Gently, he ran a hand over her head. He couldn't force himself to speak. For some reason Miranda was making him feel guilty for a decision he knew had had to be made. No matter how hard he might try, he couldn't make the mother of his child know that he had let Sherry die to save her. Wesker had lost a lot of things over the past few months, but he was not going to lose Miranda. Of that and only that was he certain. 

"I'm sorry, Harley, but we have to go." Not for the first time, Wesker noted that his voice was dry and unemotional. Miranda raised her head to stare at him, tears streaking down her cheeks. 

"I can't leave her," she gasped. Wesker gazed into her eyes, which reflected the morning sun. "I can't go." 

"This is not a discussion." Wesker answered lifting her into his arms. Laying her head on his chest again, Miranda took in a gasping breath. She looked back to the tunnel but all she saw was the black smoke still billowing from the entrance. She closed her eyes and listened to Wesker's even breathing. He wasn't even bothered by the fact that his daughter was dead. Why should he be? She'd never told him the truth about Sherry. And now, he would never know her as anything but another casualty.

Turning his back on the tunnel, Wesker walked away from it. Overhead, three F-15 fighter jets rushed past them into the heart of the ill-fated Raccoon City. 

Not for the first time in her life, Miranda Harley felt utterly helpless. It was outlandish, but true, everyone she'd ever loved had somehow ended up dead. Only one of them had ever come back to her.


	17. For Every Dark Night

Miranda hadn't moved in hours. She'd been sitting in the same chair staring out the window. She hadn't spoken to anyone in days. Albert Wesker stood behind her, watching her. They'd been back at the HCF headquarters for a week now and Miranda was steadily growing worse. It was almost as if she'd given up. Her grief for Sherry was overwhelming her and there was nothing he could do or say to make her feel any better. But even if he did have the right words, it wouldn't change anything. Sherry would still be dead. Never in all his life had he ever felt so helpless. 

He ran his hand through the hair at the base of her neck. She didn't react to it. He followed her gaze out the window and was surprised to see that it was snowing. It had been quite a while since he'd seen snow. 

Her soft hair looped through his fingers and he looked back down at it. Miranda had always had beautiful hair. He'd spent many nights marveling at its silky texture.

"Harley," he whispered softly. He ran a thumb across the soft skin of her cheek. She closed her eyes for a brief moment and a tear slid down and dropped onto his fingers. She made no other gesture of acknowledgement. Wesker sighed heavily and turned to leave. Things were bound to get worse before they got any better. 

For Riley Davis the week had gone by in a blur. He was glad to be back in the lab where he felt safe. He'd been forcing himself to forget the whole incident with Raccoon City, but every night like clockwork, as soon as he closed his eyes he saw the woe-begotten city. He saw every terror that the normal world knew nothing about. Every night he relived hell.

Albert Wesker had been in a rage since they'd arrived. He was just as angry as the Head Office that they had not retrieved the G-virus before Umbrella. Nothing would appease him and Miranda Harley's withdrawal had not helped anything. 

Riley anguished for her. He'd seen the look on her face as the train tunnel had exploded, but he couldn't possibly know what it was like to lose a child. She was not the same and he hated it. Just when Miranda had seemed to get over her fears, her world had been shattered. 

Robert Jacks had been just as angry as Wesker. He'd been acting as if something were bothering him. But no matter how much Riley tried to get him to talk, the less he actually did. He was hiding something from all of them and Riley was willing to bet it wasn't just his past. 

The yellow, rhyming bird was another matter all its own. He'd been thinking about it almost as much as he'd been reliving his nightmares. They all had. He and Jacks had often brought up the subject of the creature that Miranda had called Eleanor. 

One thing had been troubling him above all others. That bird had talked as if it were smart enough to carry on a conversation. He'd never seen any bird that could do that. He sighed loudly and decided to close his mind to the subject. It was obvious that Miranda knew a lot more about that bird than she was willing to let on. He would have to wait until she was ready to tell them.

"You remember that movie where they put that guy in a tank filled with jelly?" He was sitting on a metal table that was almost unbearably cold. A young man with short red hair was staring at the leather sown into his leg. After this doctor made his report, Riley, Wesker, and Jacks would talk to the Corporates about the possibilities of repairing the damage done. Of course that depended on how bad it really was. 

Jacks was across the room sharpening his hunting knife on a whetting stone. Miranda sat curled into a chair on the other side of him, staring out the nearby window. She'd recently come into the room, but like usual hadn't acknowledged their existence. Riley suspected that even though she didn't feel like talking to them she didn't want to be alone. 

"What?" Jacks raised his head and glared at Riley. 

"You know…where he got attacked or something and they put him in that jelly to revive him..." Riley waved a hand in the air, nearly slapping the red headed doctor in the face. 

"I don't watch movies." Jacks snapped. He returned to the stone, dragging the blade slowly across. The noise was unsettling. Only Miranda seemed unaffected by it. 

"Why not?" Riley scratched absently at his knee as the doctor sighed in exasperation. 

"It's a waste of valuable time." Jacks held the knife up to the light to inspect it.

"Two hours? Oh come on. It's not a waste. It's entertainment." 

"Entertainment would be to feed you to those lousy Hunters you keep playing with." Jacks slid the blade across the leg of his pants. 

"It would not." Riley whined with a mock sniffle. "It was a really good movie. You should have seen it."

"What was it called?" The red headed doctor asked. He reached for the scalpel in his chest pocket. 

Riley scowled at him. "I don't know. I was hoping Jacks did." 

"It was a good movie but you don't know what it's called? You're full of shit." Jacks rolled his eyes.

"I am not." Riley sneered. He looked toward Miranda but she was still staring out the window as if she didn't realize they were alive. 

"I've never heard of a movie where they put a guy in jelly." The red head doctor said, slicing the stitching around the leather on Riley's leg.

"Sounds like a porno to me." Jacks stopped sharpening the knife and grinned widely. 

Riley fought the urge to use his middle finger as a means of communication. Finally his finger won and Jacks laughed uproariously. "Well thanks for nothing. Now I'll have to sit here all day and try to think of it and all you can think of is pornography." Riley snapped. Jacks grabbed his sides and doubled over, his rich laughter filling the room. "You won't even bother to help!" Riley shouted throwing his pillow at Jacks. His cheeks were red. Jacks laughed harder.

"Empire Strikes Back." Miranda's voice was barely audible. Nevertheless, everyone in the room turned to look at her. She didn't return their stares. 

"Yeah!" Riley cried excitedly. "Yeah!" 

"Sounds like a porno to me." Jacks words sounded as if they were forced. A few seconds later he burst out laughing again. Riley cracked up as well. 

The red headed doctor stared at them as if they were all crazy. "Who did this?" He asked as the laughter subsided.

"Why?" Jacks voice was still full of mirth. 

"This is the worst stitch job I've ever seen." The doctor answered. 

"Well, at least no one could accuse you of being a woman." Riley burst out laughing again.

"At least it kept it from completely deteriorating. Your Captain was right when he told you that you were going to lose that leg." The doctor had pulled away the upper layer of leather and was removing the stuffing. "Even though the sewing was bad, this was a pretty good idea. However, you probably will lose the leg."

"Isn't there something you can do?" Riley asked tiredly. 

"We'll have to see what the Head office says, Mr. Davis." The doctor replied. He pulled the last layer of the leather off and gagged. Beneath the leather coating, the skin was gray and defunct. At the doctor's touch a clump of the muscle fell away. 

"I told you, you stunk, King Zombie." Jacks snorted. Riley turned his head fighting revulsion. Miranda sighed audibly but said nothing.

"I'll go and give them my report." The doctor said through his teeth. "I'll just…" He reached over to the nearby tray and pulled out a large trash bag. Wrapping it around Riley's leg, he groaned. 

"Thanks a lot doc, now how am I supposed to walk?" Riley grumbled. 

"You're not. I'll give you a wheel chair and your friend here can take you to the…" 

"Friend?" Riley and Jacks echoed. 

"No." Jacks said loudly.

Riley turned toward Jacks. "You're not my friend?" 

"Not hardly, smart-ass. I'm no one's friend." 

"Let me guess, friends are a waste of time." This time Riley sighed. 

"Absolutely." Jacks snapped. 

"I saved your life, you asshole." Riley shouted. 

"I think not. I would have been fine." Jacks answered evenly.

"Yeah right. That monster was going to kill you!" Riley shouted louder. 

"I don't think so." Jacks voice was quiet. 

"Okay, sure. Whatever you say." Riley crossed his arms over his chest and scowled. Before any of them could react, Jacks shot across the room and lifted Riley into the air. The thought ran through Riley's mind that the speed nearly matched Wesker's. 

"You listen here, smart-ass. I fell out a six-story window and landed on my back. Yet I am not dead, nor do I have any broken bones. Explain _that_." Jacks was grinding his teeth as he tightened his grip around Riley's throat. Riley didn't answer. "I was shot in the stomach with a Benelli M3S Shotgun at close range and yet I live. Don't ever tell me whether or not I would have died."

"No one lives forever," Riley wheezed. 

"Enough!" Wesker roared from the doorway. Jacks dropped Riley with a snarl and turned toward the Captain. "As usual, you two find it necessary to act like children." Wesker walked into the room with an air of animosity.

Riley took in a labored breath and stared at him. Wesker glanced toward Miranda but she didn't seem to notice his grand entrance. The red head doctor cowered in fear. "Do you have your assessment ready yet, doctor?" Wesker's gaze fell on the doctor as he whimpered. 

"I…I do." The red haired man answered. "I was just trying to…ah…" 

Wesker adjusted his dark glasses. "Jacks take Riley to the meeting room." He pointed at the doctor "You sir, will follow them."

Angrily, Jacks nodded and picked up Riley. "Why Rhet, you do care." Riley said in his best southern accent, throwing his arms around Jacks' neck. Jacks ignored him and walked out the door. The red headed man followed quickly behind. 

After the door closed, Wesker turned back to Miranda and knelt beside her chair. "I have something for you." His voice, as usual, was filled with elemental music. He was darkness wrapped in moonlight. He held out his upturned fist and laid it in her lap. Miranda looked toward Wesker who was eye level with her then down toward his hand. As he unfolded his fingers a tiny dark lilac blossom appeared. "It's called a Dark Night Lilac." Miranda gave him a faint smile and turned back to the window. Wesker took her hand and enclosed the lilac blossom inside it. "Remember Harley, for every dark night, there is a brighter day." Standing, he walked away from her and out the door. He failed to see the tears that had begun to slowly slip down her cheeks. 

"It would have to be living tissue, Mr. Davis." One of the men said. As usual, the Head Office was dark, revealing only the shapes of the three people in charge. The red headed doctor sat closest to the group and, as best Riley could tell, nodded his head. Albert Wesker and Robert Jacks sat next to him. Jacks leaned forward with his elbows on the table. Wesker leaned back and propped up his feet. Only Riley remained perfectly still. 

"I understand living tissue, sirs and madam, but what kind of tissue are we talking about?" His voice was confident and cool. Riley was proud of that. 

"With the rapid deterioration of the muscle and bone, there is only one tissue likely to restore the damage done." The female voice answered. Her voice was always soft spoken, but she was not one to cross. Marcus Baker had learned that the hard way. 

"Human tissue, Mr. Davis." The man said. 

"So that means Wesker is out of the question." Riley snickered. 

"Your humor is neither appreciated nor desired." The woman said angrily. Riley frowned. These three didn't know how to take a joke. 

"So what do I do? Where am I supposed to find someone willing to donate their tissue?" Riley asked quietly. In all his life, he'd never met anyone who'd been willing to give up anything for him. He didn't expect to find anyone now.

"That is entirely up to you, Mr. Davis. However," the deepest male voice spoke up at last. "You have a very small window of opportunity in which to find a donor and replace the tissue. Once the retrogression begins in your bone, it will spread through the marrow and destroy your entire bone structure. "

"We suggest removing the leg and saving valuable time." The female added. 

"But I…" Riley stuttered. The disappointment in his words was almost tangible. "Okay. Does it…"

"Oh for heaven's sake." Jacks said loudly, he pushed back from the conference table and threw his hands into the air. "I'll do it." 

"You would?" Riley asked, confused. 

"Just to get you to quit whining, smart-ass." Jacks snorted. "What do we have to do?"

Wesker planted his legs back on the floor and leaned forward, slamming a fist on the table. "Absolutely not." Both Jacks and Riley turned to stare at him incredulously. 

"Why not?" Jacks snarled. "What am I going to need it for?" 

"Yeah." Riley added. 

"No. I will not hear another word about it." Wesker snarled back. "I don't have to give you a reason for anything I do. Now get out." His eyes glowed red in the darkness. "Now!" 

Without another word, Riley, Jacks, and the red headed doctor left the room. As soon as the door closed, Jacks threw his fist into the wall, the plaster collapsing around his wrist. "What the hell is going on around here?"


	18. Baiting Sheep

"Mr. Wesker, your mission into Raccoon City was less than satisfactory." The man at the head of the table said. Wesker nodded with a frown. 

"We understand that Umbrella has the G-virus samples we sent you to procure." The anger was the dominant tone in the female voice. 

"On the contrary." Wesker answered. He was fighting his own rage, a rage that was threatening to send him over the edge. "Robert Jacks, the young man that was just in here, obtained the remains of the William Birkin monster. Riley Davis and I are currently trying to cultivate the virus and stabilize it." In a way, Albert Wesker was lying the HCF Corporates. It was true that Robert Jacks had the virus. It was not true that they were stabilizing it. Jacks had hidden the remains of the Birkin monster under the cot in his barrack and Wesker intended to find out why. The Corporates, however, did not need to know this minor detail. 

"Whatever the case may be, Mr. Wesker, we hired you to obtain the G-virus for us. If it is indeed true that you and Mr. Davis are cultivating the virus, then Mr. Davis will have to finish it on his own." the deep voice said. Wesker wished he knew their names. It was easier to negotiate with people whose names were familiar. Like Barry Burton for instance. 

"Why is that?" Wesker crossed his arms over his chest.

"We've been receiving strange reports from an Umbrella controlled island called Sheena. It seems that there are monster outbreaks appearing all over the island. It may be necessary to send you there to help spiral the situation out of control. Umbrella hasn't had much success in dealing with Bio outbreaks as of late."

"Who's the commanding officer on the island?" Wesker took off his dark glasses and rubbed his temples.

"We're surprised you don't know, Captain Wesker." the female sounded amused.

"Vincent." the name came out distastefully. Wesker sat forward and clenched his fists on the table. 

"Indeed." Three heads bobbed in the darkness. It seemed the even the HCF knew of his dealings with Vincent Goldman. But that was something for another time. "Since there seems to be no new research developing under Commander Vincent's control. We will not worry ourselves with obtaining his research."

"When?" Wesker wasn't sure why, but he was almost positive they wouldn't allow him to take Miranda with him. Since it was a simple mission it wasn't necessary to involve an entire squadron of people. 

"At the moment, things seems to be slowly progressing. We will let you know."

"Tell us about Ada Wong." 

Wesker sighed loudly at the thought of having to explain the whole Ada fiasco. He was as displeased with it as they would undoubtedly be. He began the report at the beginning and left only one detail out, the infernal rhyming bird. They wouldn't understand it's appearance and he couldn't explain it to them either. Three heads bobbed again.

"Mr. Wesker, we hope that further actions like this will be contained by you. You understand the importance of these missions as much as anyone," the female sat up straighter in her seat. Wesker didn't bother looking at them in the darkness. He'd seen them a dozen times before.

"Ms. Wong will not be joining us on further missions. Of that I can assure you." Wesker interlaced his fingers. 

"There is new information that we are very interested in, Captain," the deep male voice said. "It seems that Alexia Ashford is not dead."

"Not dead?" Wesker's breath caught in his throat. If Alexia were alive then that meant that the heart of Umbrella was still beating strong. The roots of their corruption were beginning to travel ever deeper with each new discovery. 

"She's concealed herself within a laboratory and has been developing something called a T-Alexia virus. Within the next few months, we will be sending you and your team to find Alexia and obtain the T-Alexia virus. It is vitally important that you don't screw up this mission, Captain Wesker." 

"We'll give you more details as they come to our attention. For now, we're sure that you have plenty to do in preparation." Wesker nodded. They were right; he had more groundwork he needed to cover than he'd like to admit. For starters, he'd find out why Jacks was concealing the remains of William Birkin.

"You have what?" Riley choked on his sandwich. "That's what was in the bag?" Jacks nodded but said nothing. Riley looked toward Miranda to see how she would react to it, but her head was down and she was dissecting her sandwich. "Why didn't you tell Wesker?" 

"I don't know." Jacks snapped. "I just didn't." 

"Wesker will think you did it to screw him over you know." Riley pointed out. He swallowed the obstruction in his throat. 

"I don't know." Jacks said again. Miranda took the bologna from the middle of her sandwich and laid it on Riley's plate. She did the same with the cheese. 

"Come on M, you can't just eat the bread." Riley said softly. "Eat something."

"Davis, leave her alone." Jacks reached over and snatched the bologna off his plate. "She doesn't feel like eating." For the first time since they'd come back Miranda looked directly at Jacks. She looked surprised. 

"Now damn it," Riley shouted as Jacks took the opportunity to snatch his cheese. "That's mine!" 

"You weren't eating it." Jacks answered with his mouth full. At Miranda's gasp they all turned. Wesker was standing in the doorway his arms crossed. 

"For the time being, Riley, I'd rather you didn't congregate with Jacks." The two men looked toward Wesker in surprise. "Don't bother to ask why, Davis. I should think the incident in the Conference room should tell you all you need to know." While Wesker spoke, Jacks quickly wrote something on a napkin and slid it to Miranda. Miranda pretended to wipe her mouth with it. Then he stood and followed Wesker. 

After she was sure they were gone, she handed Riley the napkin and left as well. Riley held up the note and read: 

Meet me in the side lab after midnight. I'll give you the body parts then. 

Jacks

P.s. It's not necessary to eat the napkin.

Riley sighed to himself. What kind of trouble were they getting themselves into?

As they made their way to the Main Laboratory, Wesker smiled to himself. He'd seen the note passed between the three of them and knew what it said. It had been easy to bait these sheep. He'd find out what he needed to know without having to ask anyone anything. All he had to do was wait.


	19. A Common Misconception

Five minutes after midnight, Robert Jacks entered the side lab and threw his black bag on the table. He hadn't noticed before, but the smell was rank. Riley, who was seated at a computer monitor across the room, turned and frowned.

"Oh god, Jacks, the smell is terrible." Jacks shrugged and opened the bag. "Don't touch anything inside," Riley advised. "It's most likely still contaminated."

Jacks took his hand away from the bag and frowned. He still wasn't sure why he'd hidden the bag from Wesker. He knew he would be punished, if not killed, for his actions. 

He watched as Riley suited up in a scrub guard, surgical mask, and elbow-length gloves. Then, he began to remove the graying body parts from the bag. Jacks couldn't read Riley's facial expression for the mask. 

Behind them in the shadows, Albert Wesker stood. Neither of them had sensed his presence. He watched with anger as Riley began draining the remaining blood from the body parts.

Riley stepped back for a moment, fighting the revulsion in his throat. "What were you thinking Jacks? Why didn't you tell Wesker about this?" He had pulled off the surgical mask to take deep breath. 

"I want answers, damn it." Jacks said slamming his palm on a nearby gurney. "I want our _beloved _Captain to tell me why I didn't die when he threw me off the top floor of the hotel." 

"He threw you…?" Riley raised an eyebrow but said nothing more. He knew as well as anyone what Wesker was capable of. The sight of Marcus Baker choking on his own blood flashed before his eyes. 

"I always thought that because I could see better, hear better, and run faster than anyone else, I was an exception to the rules. But now I'm starting to think there's more to it." Jacks looked toward Riley. We hadn't realized how much he wanted someone to understand. "Wesker knows something about it, Davis. I want to know what he knows."

"We all want to know what Wesker knows, Jacks, but that's not going to happen anytime soon. Wanting answers isn't a good enough reason for keeping something like this from him." Riley replaced the mask but didn't return to his work. 

"I walked into a hospital in Raccoon City with half of my stomach gone and they turned me away. Then out of nowhere, there's Albert Wesker and he's telling me that I'm going to be okay. A few days later, I'm good as new." Jacks lifted up his shirt. "There's no scars, Davis. Nothing. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear it never happened." Riley looked at Jacks' chest and realized that he was right. Jacks skin was smooth and muscular, almost perfect. "It looks like I've never aged. I was nineteen when that happened…" Jacks sighed as the images of his sisters danced in his mind. "Ten years ago." 

"I agree with you, Jacks." Riley said at last. "It seems very likely that Wesker could tell you what's going on. But I can't. I'm sorry. Still, you shouldn't have kept this from him." He turned back to the body parts checking them to see if the blood was draining properly. 

"Let's just finish this and give him the G-virus in a vial." Jacks told him. Wesker smiled to himself. Jacks would find out the truth, but now was not the time.

The room was exceptionally dark, but Albert Wesker could see just fine. Across the room Miranda Harley was sprawled on the bed a sheet draped across her lithe form. She'd cried herself to sleep again. He could smell the salt of her tears. 

Wesker sat in a chair next to the bed as he'd done every night for the past week. How could she expect him to mourn a child he never knew? She had never given him a chance to know Sherry, so how could he feel bad for letting her die? He didn't understand the way her mind worked. And most of all, he didn't understand why she was blaming him for the death of her child. She should have been blaming Claire Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy. After all, they were the ones who had gone out of the way to go after Sherry time and time again. He wasn't sure why he was trying to convince himself of these things. He knew he was right in what he'd done. 

Miranda sighed in her sleep. The sound was vulnerable and almost innocent. Leaning forward, Wesker kissed her on the forehead. He'd sacrifice the entire world for her. If only she realized that.

Dawn was fast approaching. He could see the tiny slivers of light just beginning to shine through the windows on the other side of the room. Soon, these very same slivers of light would slip across her and kiss her face as he was doing now.

Outside the door, Riley was making his way toward his own room. He sighed exhaustedly. He stopped and looked through the half open doorway. He locked eyes with Wesker. "We need to talk." 

"I am aware of that, Davis." Wesker answered looking back toward Miranda. "Now is not the time."

"There's something rotten in the state of Denmark, Wesker. What the hell is it?" Riley growled. Wesker watched him out of the corner of his eye but didn't look at him directly. The young man had bags under his eyes and he yawned. 

"Now is not the time, Davis." Wesker said through his teeth. "Get some sleep."

Riley sighed, aggravated. "The G-virus is in the storage cooler in the side lab, cultivated and stabilized." He waited for Wesker to lose his temper, but instead he only shrugged. 

"Thank you, Riley." Wesker looked toward him and nodded. Riley nodded in return and retreated to his room. Wesker laid a rose on Miranda's pillow, as he'd done every night for the past week and went to tell the Head Office the news. 

Covered in sweat Miranda Harley ran, her long hair pulled in a ponytail and swinging behind her. On the indoor track Miranda was running as if she were a gazelle, beautiful and sure. She'd been doing this for hours. For now, she couldn't stop. The rage inside her was burning out of control. This was the only way she was able to keep it from destroying her. 

A month had passed and she had yet to overcome her grief. She hadn't talked to anyone during the quickly passing weeks. It hadn't seemed necessary. 

Wesker had been constantly working. She hadn't seen much of him and in a way she was glad. A part of her still hated him for letting Sherry die. He hadn't even let her try and save her daughter. 

She saw the black smoke surging out of the train tunnel and heard her own frantic screams. The image of her daughter's death haunted her every moment. It was almost too much. She picked up the pace, somehow trying to rationalize the thought that running faster would take her away from her worst nightmare. 

Miranda had so many regrets. She wished she'd fought her anger at being shunned and told Wesker the truth. She wished that she hadn't been so afraid to lose him that she had given up her child. She'd always known he never really loved her so why had she given up her flesh and blood to be with him? All her resolutions now seemed like empty air. All her promises to herself had not, in the end, actually saved her daughter. 

She looked out the floor to ceiling windows that surrounded the track and watched as the snow fell softly to the ground. It had been snowing for weeks, which was almost unbelievable for late October. It had helped her. In a way it had made her feel serene and safe. But now as she ran, she knew that the snow would not to continue to make her feel serene. She was angry and nothing but exhaustion would calm her down. She'd been the same way when her father died. 

Finally, running became too much and she sank to her knees, trying to drag in a debilitated breath. As soon as she found it she broke down into sobs. She'd lost everything throughout her lifetime and once again, she felt powerless against the tides of fate. 

Albert Wesker watched her from the doorway, his insides a knot of emotions he didn't understand. Miranda had been running like this for days. She'd been pushing herself to the breaking point and beyond and he could not stop it. 

He felt as if his heart were breaking as he watched her fall to her knees and collapse into gut wrenching sobs. Deep down he knew he was losing her. 

Jacks sat alone in the main lab and watched the Hunters as the fought amongst themselves for the scraps of raw meat he'd been throwing to them. The image of his sisters was still haunting him. He hadn't tried to sleep in days. 

He'd been watching Miranda. She seemed to think no one understood her grief. Who was he to tell her how wrong she was?

The Hunter that Riley had named Fruit Loop was reaching its talon fingers through the cage bars for the food in his hand. It sounded as if it were purring. Jacks dropped a piece on the floor and kicked it towards the cage. Fruit Loop screeched loudly and stretched harder. The raw meat was just out of reach. 

Jacks wondered what had made him so cruel. A lifetime ago, he'd been a boy who'd cared about others and took care of his family. He'd loved life and was afraid of everything he didn't understand. Whatever reason he'd had for hacking into Umbrella's main frame and stealing their research, it had destroyed his life. 

The automatic door slid open behind him and Miranda stepped inside. She sat in the chair next to him and the Hunter's screeched at her. She ignored them. She'd been getting good at ignoring everything lately. 

"Jacks," she spoke softly and he almost hadn't heard her. "I want you to teach me to shoot a gun." 

"You do speak." Jacks said. She nodded with a sad smile. "You know how, Ms. Harley." Jacks kicked at a Hunter's claw as it reached for the last piece of meat in his hand. These things were sneaky. 

"I don't want to be afraid of them anymore, Jacks. I want to aim for a target and know I'm going to hit it." Jacks nodded as she spoke. "I want you to teach me how to defend myself." 

"Why not have Wesker do that?" Jacks frowned at her. Wesker was so possessive of her it seemed like suicide to offer help to her without his say so. 

"He's busy." Miranda looked at him. "He's always busy." Jacks threw the last piece of meat in the center of the cage and the Hunters threw themselves at it and began to fight. "He wouldn't understand."

"Fine." Jacks answered with a sigh. After all, he was already in deep shit with Wesker. What was one more transgression? The two sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Jacks stood and turned to leave.

"Why do you hate Umbrella, Jacks?" Miranda caught his arm and gazed into his eyes. "I don't understand why you think Umbrella is so bad." 

"Why? Don't you?" Jacks sat back in his chair and turned to Miranda. "Umbrella destroyed a whole city. Didn't you used to live there?" 

"Umbrella wasn't always like that. At one time we were working toward finding a cure for diseases." Miranda answered.

"Great cure, honey." Jacks rolled his eyes. "Making humans into flesh eating zombies really eased their suffering." 

"That wasn't supposed to happen. I don't know what went wrong."

"Whatever you were told about your research was never true. You were never saving anyone. You were helping to kill them."

"They told me that it was better to help create life forms that would save our soldiers. I applied my knowledge toward that goal." Miranda was scowling. 

"Save our soldiers? _Ha! _More like eat them."

"You're avoiding my question, Jacks." Miranda said. 

"Umbrella murdered my family..." Once he started to tell her the story he couldn't stop. He told her everything he'd never told another living soul. Miranda listened intently as he spoke. He even told her about Albert Wesker's role in his story. When he was finished he leaned back against the chair and waited for Miranda to condemn him. Instead, Miranda got to her feet and hugged him. Jacks was taken by surprise. "I'm so sorry." She whispered. Jacks patted her arm but said nothing. 

The side lab was always silent. Riley had begun to value that silence immensely. For the past few weeks he'd spent a lot of time in this lab, studying the effects of the G-virus. At the moment he was preparing to study the effects it had on a T-virus infected crow. If he were right, the combination would be lethal and would not cause the crow to mutate further. 

The crow he'd named Bob was sitting atop its cage squawking. There were at least twenty other crows in cages that answered him with loud squawks of their own. Riley sighed. He hated crows. They were so annoying yet they made the best representation for this kind of study. 

He filled a syringe with the purple G-virus liquid and set it on the counter. A few days ago, he'd injected the crows with the T-virus. They had begun to change into the bloodthirsty monsters they were now and it had only taken a few hours. They seemed to be the least of three species to be affected by the virus. However, that did not stop their zombie-like lust for flesh. That was why they were all in cages. They were too dangerous to let out. Riley hadn't injected the virus in Bob. It just didn't seem right. Yet, the more he listened to it squawking now, the more he was beginning to change his mind.

Riley had given up on finding a donor for the "living tissue" he needed to restore his leg. After his experiment, he was going to tell Wesker just to cut it off. He'd learned to live with a lot of things over his lifetime and he'd learn to live without a leg. A missing leg couldn't stop his research, but it might stop his dating attempts. "Might." He said with a snicker. Bob, the Crow, flapped his wings as if to answer. 

He hadn't seen much of Jacks and Miranda over the past few weeks. Wesker was doing a good job of keeping him separated from his friends. But Riley still wasn't sure why Wesker found that necessary. Honestly, he missed fighting with Jacks. After his leg was removed he promised himself he'd hit Jacks with his cane. The thought made him smile. 

He was right about there being something foul in Denmark. Wesker had been acting funny when it came to Jacks' question and Riley vowed to find out why. What did Wesker know that the rest of them didn't? Could it be possible that Jacks was...his thoughts came to an abrupt halt as Bob flew over his head and dive bombed him. Riley shouted in surprise and threw up his hands. The bird landed back on top of its cage and all the crows squawked in unison. 

Putting on his protective gloves and mask Riley pulled one of the crows out of the cage and held it down on the table as it fought to treat his arm like birdseed. He took the syringe and pushed the purple liquid into the suddenly screaming bird. Feeling guilty, Riley mumbled a quote he'd learned in one of his college courses. "A common misconception about crows is that they are actually carnivores." He'd learned that like buzzards, crows preferred bloody raw meat as opposed to seeds and berries. Normally however, they didn't have the taste for human flesh, even dead. He didn't know why that mattered now. These zombie crows ate everything. 

The crow beneath his hands went limp and Riley let go. He had been right, the G-virus had no affect on these smaller creatures. It merely killed them. He turned his back on the counter and threw Bob a piece of his bologna sandwich. The bird caught it easily. 

Sitting in his chair, Riley wondered what experiments had been preformed on that yellow bird to make it talk like a human. He'd never had a human, much less a bird, call him "toilet lid". The things it had said to Miranda scared him more than he wanted to admit. 

What did it mean by "a genetic freak in Oz"? Surely it wasn't talking about the Wizard of Oz. It made no sense to him, but Miranda and Wesker had seemed to understand it perfectly. 

He was too engrossed in his thought to see the crow on the table rise and begin stretching its wings. Only when it flew toward Bob and attacked him did he take notice. Before he could really react to it, Bob was dead. 

Angrily, Riley took out a gun from the table drawer beside him and shot the crow until it stopped moving. Riley felt like crying. He was tired and depressed and he seemed to be losing friends faster than he made them. 

He picked up the dead crows and threw them in the wastebasket, plopping his sandwich in on top of them. He didn't feel like eating anymore. He was getting careless. That bird could have killed him. Laying his head on the cool counter he closed his eyes and begged his body to let him rest. 

Jacks stood behind her and held Miranda's wrists, helping her point the gun at the target. "Line up your sight and look over the barrel. Once that notch is lined up with the center of your target pull the trigger." The gun they held was a .38 Special, a revolver with a dark wood handle. 

Miranda braced her legs and fired, stumbling backward as it recoiled. The bullet ripped through the paper target before she'd regained her balance. "Damn." Jacks muttered. Miranda looked at the target and understood what Jacks meant. She'd hit the target right between the eyes. "Good shot. _But_ can you do it again?" Jacks said with a snort. Whether she knew it or not, Miranda was a natural. 

"Of course I can." This time Miranda closed her eyes and the recoil sent them both sprawling on the floor. 

"Don't close your eyes, Miranda. Next time you do that, I'll hit you." Jacks stood and lifted her to her feet. Miranda laughed for the first time in over a month. "Close your eyes and you'll be dead, not you're target. Shoot again."

Behind them, Wesker stood in the doorway his insides feeling like rubber. For some reason he wasn't comfortable with these two standing so close together. Jacks was leaning closer whispering in her ear and Miranda was smiling. She hadn't done that in so long. Rage was sweeping over him, but he wouldn't punish Jacks. After all, it was his fault this budding romance was happening in the first place. 

The crow that had once been named Bob now lay in the wastebasket. All at once, it shook its head and squawked. Flapping its wings, it somehow managed to knock over its dark prison and escape. It was hungry; its belly was rumbling. Not far in front of it a human sat, head down. It certainly looked like dinner. 

Riley opened his eyes to the sound of screaming crows. The steel walls around the lab multiplied the sound. He wondered what was making them cause such a racket when something sunk sharply into the back of his neck. He cried out and waved his arms over his head, falling off the chair. Every last one of the zombie crows now sat atop their cages looking at him with hungry eyes as the former Bob landed on the table above him. "Holy shit." Riley said under his breath. 

Beyond him, the door opened and a voice said, "Mr. Davis?" It was Baxter Ferguson, the fat Head Office secretary. 

"Baxter, no!" Riley shouted. It was too late. The crows covered him like a dark blanket until he fell to the floor. His screams were barley audible over the crows' blood thirsty caws. After a few moments the crows returned to their perches and Riley saw with growing horror that Baxter Ferguson had only a few strips of flesh left on his body. 

Lowering himself slowly to the floor, Riley continued to mumble the quote about crows. Although it wasn't going to help him, it made him feel better. The crow he'd named Bob was peering at him over the side of the table and he saw that the bird's eyes were ruby-red. He managed to maneuver his gun in between his folded arms. He swore. If he was going to die, he was taking a few of these winged monsters with him. 

Wesker had given up on watching Miranda and Jacks snuggling. He frowned. Jacks had been supposedly teaching her to use a gun. He could have sworn she already knew how. No matter what reason she'd given, it was all just an elaborate excuse to get closer to Jacks. He'd noticed Miranda had been spending far too much time with Jacks. He slammed his fist on the table. How could he have ignored this? 

He'd been waiting for Riley for over an hour. Riley had told him that he was going to finish his research on the effects of the G-virus on smaller creatures and then he'd meet him in the main lab. For once, this lab was empty. He guessed everyone had gotten sick of dealing with him and his volatile mood. He glowered at the thought.

He needed the research in order to prepare for the next mission. It seemed that he and his team would be sent to an Umbrella Research Facility on an island known as Rockfort. If he remembered right, it was the home of that freakish young man named Alfred Ashford. The last time he'd seen the little boy, he'd gone insane over the loss of his twin sister and began to dress in her clothing. He had been the laughing stock of Umbrella. Even so, Alfred still continued to have regiment on the island. Luckily, his father had designated the power within Umbrella to the Corporates.

When Albert Wesker had first begun working for Umbrella, he was surprised to learn the ease at which Umbrella obtained the world's most sickly, twisted, and deviant men to work within its ranks. He'd been equally surprised to learn that Miranda Harley was none of these. 

Riley had been gone too long. He wouldn't dare to keep him waiting. He knew better. Wesker rose and made his way to the side lab. There was bound to be trouble somewhere. As soon as he reached the door and heard the crows squawking loudly, he knew he'd been right. He opened the door slightly and took a deep breath. There were three dead men inside but none of them was Riley. His scent was heavy in the air, however. He was bleeding. 

With the door fully opened, the darkness hit him like a tidal wave. "Whoever you are, don't come in here. For god sake." Riley choked out. The sharp smell of gunpowder assaulted Wesker's senses. The sound of beating wings was a dull roar, but as he stepped into the room the noise died down. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Wesker saw why Riley's voice was so harsh. At least twenty crows were surrounding an overturned table. 

"Wesker?" Riley gagged. Wesker didn't answer him. Instead he rested his hand on the gun at his side. "Whoever that is, don't say I didn't warn you." The largest of the birds flew into the air and landed on Wesker's shoulder. It cawed softly as if telling him about a lost meal. For a moment, Wesker almost brushed it off and shot it, but for some odd reason he decided against it. 

"Go." He said slowly. The entire group of crows returned to their cages in a whirlwind of black wings. Resolutely, Wesker shut and locked all the cage doors. He reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a flashlight. Picking up the table, he shined the light in Riley's eyes. 

"Hey!" Riley shouted. "What's wrong with you?"

"What the hell happened in here?" Wesker shouted back. The bird on his shoulder flapped its wings and cawed loudly. Riley waited until the bird was finished before he got to his feet.

"I was shooting at that little asshole and shot out the bulb." He shrugged and fumbled through a desk drawer to pull out another bulb. 

"Riley?" Miranda's voice broke the sudden silence. "Are you okay?" Wesker shinned the flashlight her way and illuminated the body of the former Baxter Ferguson. Miranda sucked in a breath but didn't scream. Jacks was standing behind her glaring at him. Wesker wondered if it were because Miranda had told him all the things that he'd done to her in the past. He wondered if she'd told him about Vincent.

"Get this shit cleaned up, Riley. And leave those damned crows alone. I plan to use them in the next mission." Wesker pointed to the last open cage and the bird on his shoulder flew inside. He shut the door and turned to leave. Miranda placed a hand on his arm and for a moment the two of them locked eyes. Wesker decided against telling her what he thought of her new relationship. It would only make matters worse.


	20. Honeyed Retribution

Miranda threw her fist into the punching bag as Jacks held it from the other side. "Harder, Miranda. That's weak." Jacks shouted to her. He'd been teaching her how to use her natural weapons to defend herself and she'd seemed to take to it like she had shooting a gun. 

Miranda bent over and put her hands on her knees, dragging in a heavy breath. Once again she was driving herself to the point of exhaustion. Even though Jacks had been helping her fight her grief, something else was bothering her and it had everything to do with Albert Wesker.

Wesker stood in the entrance way to the indoor track and watched jealously as Jacks patted Miranda on the back and whispered in her ear. He chose not to listen to their conversation, although he could hear them quite well if he wanted to. 

The monster in him was screaming for him to kill Jacks and taste the blood of victory. But the human side of him was rational enough to know the reason Jacks was placing his hands on Miranda's hips. It was entirely his fault. It was just like the last time…

*********************************************************

Vincent Goldman had been born an only child to a very wealthy family. He was used to getting every thing he wanted and more. Consequently, when he made up his mind to become a Commander within Umbrella he vowed to use any means necessary to gain the prestige title. 

The best way he saw to accomplish that was to not only to murder the competition, but to romance one of the top Corporates, Miranda Harley. He'd known from the beginning that Miranda was his key to advancement within Umbrella. The problem however, was that Miranda was always so aloof. He hadn't counted on the fact she might be deeply involved with Albert Wesker and he'd never be the wiser.

The idea came to him as he watched her standing on the sprawling front lawn of the mansion, the wind blowing through her silky black hair. If he ever got married, he would definitely choose a woman with her beauty. For now though, he would choose her to use her as a means to an end. 

Since Ms. Harley was so unapproachable, he'd planned on taking a subtler route at getting her. He'd been asking around and found that she wasn't the type to be dazzled; rather, she was the type to be romanced. He'd decided that a "good guy" approach would be his best chance for success.

He made his way across the lawn and stood next to her, smiling. "Are you tired?" His voice came out softer than he'd expected it to. To stroke his ego he mentally patted himself on the back. He sounded great. 

Miranda turned to him, her sea green eyes dark. She'd seemed lost in thought. "What?" She frowned at him. 

Vincent smiled undaunted and said it again, "Are you tired?" It was even better the second time.

Miranda gave him a half smile and turned back to the woods. "No." 

"Well you should be," Vincent whispered, laying a hand on her arm. "You've been running through my mind all day." 

Miranda laughed quietly. "Pick up lines, Mr. Goldman? And there I thought you were out of high school." 

Vincent smiled back. "It may be childish, but at least I got to see that gorgeous smile of yours." Miranda turned to face him and smiled more fully. Behind them, concealed among the trees, Albert Wesker was not smiling at all.

Miranda Harley had warmed to Vincent Goldman almost instantly. He was giving her what Albert Wesker refused to, his friendship. He was constantly regaling her with tales of his heroic, yet hilarious tales, of his training sessions with the lead researchers. Miranda could not help but adore a man who was so caring and altogether wonderful. His latest attempt to win her heart consisted of a lab buried beneath mountains of pink roses and a song (no matter how terribly) sung to her over the communication system.

Earlier that day he had begged her to go to dinner with him and to her surprise he had taken her to Chez Monet, a fancy French restaurant in the heart of Raccoon City. 

Neither of them realized that Albert Wesker had heard of Vincent's plans and had concocted a plan of his own. He had never figured out what made so insanely jealous of Vincent, but from the moment he saw them together in the mansion's courtyard, he'd made it his personal goal to get him as far away from the Spencer Mansion as possible. 

The night of the diner he found himself standing inside the lavish bathroom of the Chez Monet dressed in the restroom attendants attire to awaiting the fast approaching time in which Mr. Goldman would need to use the facilities. He was very aware of the fact that Vincent would recognize him almost immediately. Nevertheless, Wesker wouldn't give him a chance to do anything about it. 

Vincent Goldman had been drinking entirely too much champagne. He'd always had a problem with how much alcohol his body could handle, but could never stop until he was sloshed. Miranda, on the other hand, had hardly touched hers. Tonight, despite the fact that she seemed amused by his antics and witty jokes, she seemed distant. That didn't concern him as much as the fact that his bladder was for him to relive it and soon. Excusing himself, Vincent made his way to the back room unaware that he wouldn't be coming back. 

As soon as he opened the door, Wesker hit him on the back of the head and he fell to the floor. The world around him was spinning out of control. The last thing he saw before blacking out completely was the face of a monster looming over him. 

Wesker dragged Vincent into one of the stalls and held his head underwater just long enough to cause him to gag and sputter. Then, he tied him face down on the toilet lid and made sure the stall door wouldn't be opening anytime soon. Leaving Vincent inside Wesker disappeared into the darkness to watch Miranda.

Miranda waited a little over an hour before she realized that Vincent had dumped her at the restaurant. Sighing loudly, she also realized that she wasn't that surprised. After all if Albert Wesker didn't feel it necessary to stick around, then neither would anyone else. Besides, she had more pressing issues on her mind, like how she was going to tell Wesker the truth about their baby. 

It took him a month but Vincent managed to convince her that he had not intentionally left her alone at the restaurant and even though his story was a little outrageous, Miranda managed to forgive him. For being so understanding Vincent promised to take her on a picnic later that weekend. Albert Wesker had overheard the conversation and once again he promised to be there as well. 

In the meantime, Vincent had taken it upon himself to eliminate some of his competition for the position of Umbrella Commander. Umbrella Corporates, including Miranda, ignored the obvious and ruled their deaths accidental. Vincent had moved up the so-called "Corporate" ladder in more ways than one. He'd convinced Miranda that one kiss was harmless. Except her kiss had been more harmful than he'd thought. Something about the way Miranda Harley kissed made her even more desirable. He was beginning to consider asking her to come with him when they raised his status and gave him control over his own laboratory. After all, what kind of king would be without a queen like her?

It was noon the day of the picnic and Vincent and Miranda were making their way a mile into the Arklay Mountains to a small clearing at the top of a cliff. The air was warm and Miranda was told him that when she was young her father used to take her out to these woods to hunt for fairies. Vincent wasn't listing to her. He was thinking of the great development potentials this wooded area had. 

Entering the clearing, Vincent could have sworn someone was following them, but quickly convinced himself he was being paranoid. His fears were based on a random incident in the middle of Raccoon City. There was no one here but them. 

He laid out the blanket and filled wineglasses for himself and Miranda. Once again, it didn't take him long to realize wine agreed with him a lot less than champagne. Excusing himself, he wondered into the woods. Miranda sighed. Somehow she knew he wouldn't be coming back. She poured her wine on the grass and reached for a slice of bread. More than likely, she was going to be here a while.

Vincent had just unzipped his pants and begun to rid himself of excess fluids, when he felt an exploding pain at the back on his head. The next thing he knew he was shirtless and tied to a tree, the afternoon sun blaring down on him. His chest was sticky and he felt strange. Out across the clearing he saw a black bear standing in between the trees licking its lips. With a sickening feeling, Vincent realized that the sticky substance on his chest was honey and that black bear was about to have him for a midday snack. 

He screamed, but the bear was undeterred. Beyond him, he heard deep throaty laughter that sounded totally evil. 

This time, Miranda waited two hours before she returned to the mansion. It would take her quite while before she forgave Vincent again. As night fell, she was in Wesker's arms unaware that Vincent Goldman still outside trying to escape his sweet and sticky prison. 

As expected it took a long while for Vincent to convince Miranda that he'd been attacked. Miranda was not willing to believe that someone had tied him up and left him as bear cuisine. Finally his charms got the better of her and she found it in her heart to forgive him. This time, Vincent decided to take her to an amusement park. Surely with no alcohol within his reach, nothing would happen to him. But like all the other times before, Albert Wesker had gotten wind of their plans. He would make sure this was Vincent Goldman's final date with_ his _Miranda Harley.

They'd been walking around the town's fair for a few hours when Vincent spotted a Mirror Maze. He'd always been fond of Mirrors. They gave him a fabulous view of himself and even he knew that he was very pleasing to the eye. 

To his disappointment, Miranda didn't like the idea of going inside and opted to stay outside and wait for him. That suited him just fine. She didn't appreciate his good looks anyhow. If that bastard, Albert Wesker, were ever in the same room with them, she'd spend all her time staring at him. What did Wesker have that he didn't? As far as he was concerned there was nothing. 

The Maze of Mirrors was much different than he'd counted on. It was dark and sort of misty. The more corners he turned the sooner he found that he was lost. It seemed that every where he turned was a dead-end and although he was enjoying the sight if himself, Vincent Goldman was starting to get concerned. 

Albert Wesker exited the back of the maze and locked the door behind him. Vincent wouldn't be getting out of his latest predicament for a long while. Wesker waited a little more than an hour before rounding the corner and acting surprised to see Miranda sitting alone, still waiting for Vincent. 

"Wesker?" Her voice was soft and yet deadly. She was angry. "What are you doing here?"

***********************************************************

Wesker opened his eyes to a dark room. He wasn't sure how he'd gotten back to his room, but it felt good to be alone. 

The last time Vincent had disappeared, Miranda refused to speak to him again. In fact, a week later, she'd sat next to Wesker and decided his fate. Wesker had mentioned, ever so slyly, that Vincent Goldman was up for a promotion. The rest of the Umbrella Corporates agreed with him. Wesker had promptly escorted him to Sheena Island and far away from Miranda. When the time came, and it was fast approaching, he would destroy Vincent just like he would eventually do to Chris Redfield. 

Softly, the door opened and Miranda stepped inside. He could tell by her slow even breathing that she was angry. He closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. In the darkness Miranda fumbled with her clothes. They dropped to the floor with delicate thud. Wesker opened his eyes in spite of himself. 

The bed creaked quietly as Miranda got in and straddled him. He drew in a sharp breath as the silky black cloud of her hair fell around them. She leaned down to look in his eyes. She'd known all along that he'd been awake. 

Wesker couldn't catch his breath. Miranda had never done anything like this before. It was not in her nature. Gently, she kissed his bottom lip and sighed. He reached up and touched her cheek, the feelings inside too overwhelming to fight off. She grabbed his wrists and pressed them to the bed. He groaned as her eyes locked with his. 

"I hate you." The words were so full of emotion they caught him off guard. He stared at her for a long moment before he let out a heavy sigh. 

"I know." Although he could have easily lifted her off and had his way with her, he'd chosen not to. He had a feeling the next decision he made would change her outlook forever. She was in control and it was what she needed most. Even though he'd never let anyone take control of him, there was something about Miranda Harley that would not let him tell her no. 

She leaned down and kissed him again, her tongue sliding slowly between his lips. He moaned and shifted his hips. He no longer cared about decisions. He needed to be inside of her, no matter what the cost… 


	21. When the Cat's Away

Miranda Harley awoke with a start. Sitting up abruptly, she took in gasping breaths. She shivered turbulently as she fought to regain control. Once again she'd been dreaming of her death. She'd relieved this nightmare every night since returning from Raccoon City. She wasn't sure why, but she had the inexplicable feeling that it wasn't just an ordinary dream. It was a dark premonition of things to come. 

Her eyes moved slowly across the room and it was no surprise that Albert Wesker was nowhere to be found. Sighing loudly, she dropped back into the pillows and closed her eyes. She couldn't believe what she'd done. She'd never behaved in an aggressive manner toward Wesker and for some reason she didn't feel ashamed. She was still furious with him for keeping her from saving her daughter. 

Grabbing the pillow that Wesker had been laying on a few short hours ago, she hurled it across the room with all her might. She needed to run. She needed to get far away from this building and get some fresh air. 

Sliding to the edge of the bed, Miranda placed her feet firmly on the cold floor. If Wesker refused to let her leave the HCF headquarters, then she would investigate her prison thoroughly. Besides, while the cat was away the mouse would play as the old saying went. 

Laughing out loud, she felt empowered, like a goddess in her element. For the first time since Sherry's death, Miranda felt in control. 

Dawn found Albert Wesker in the cockpit of an F-15 fighter jet. The light was just beginning to touch the island of Sheena. It was easy to tell that it wouldn't take much on his part make the island a virtual hell on earth. 

His mind was blessedly blank. Even his thoughts of the impending mission had taken a back seat to the silence. This sweet serenity had been with him all morning and it was good _not_ to be in the company of certain individuals with whinny voices. 

"Wesker?" His silence was broken by the voice of Riley Davis. 

"What?" He ground through his teeth. He swore that when he returned from this mission, he'd personally make sure Riley lost his leg…if not his life.

"I've found her…" His voice died away in expectation. 

"Her?" Wesker barked. He was in no mood for games. 

"Sherry." Wesker's stomach tightened at the words. His daughter was alive? "Sherry Birkin…She's alive."

"Where?" 

"She's with Leon S. Kennedy at a military base somewhere in the heart of New York City." Riley's words were hesitant. He could sense Wesker's exasperation. "It's reputed to be the most well guarded facility in the world."

"Is that so?" His flat, even tone belied the emotions spiraling unwanted through his mind. 

"And sir?" Riley's words cut into the sudden silence again. "Umbrella knows she's alive and they're after her. They believe she knows more about the G-virus than originally thought." 

"Is that so?" He said again. "If that's the case then she might be of some use to us. Send Jacks to retrieve her." Wesker paused for a moment. "If he fails, _you_ will be the one I seek retribution of." There was silence on Riley's end of the transfer. "And Davis?" Wesker was almost smiling.

"What now oh great and mighty leader?" Riley sounded unsettled. 

"If you tell Harley about this and something should go awry…I'll kill you." Wesker ended the transmission before protests could be made. Whether he cared about Sherry or not, he wasn't about to force Miranda into a set back when she'd come so far. 

He was reaching forward to guide the plane into a landing when the warning alarm began to sound. Growling he realized that even if he knew where the problem was he wouldn't have enough time to do anything about it. 

The jet slammed into the ground, slid into a forest of trees, and finally exploded...

The dark figure stood some yards away from where the jet had exploded and smiled. Dropping the rocket launcher on the ground, he turned away from the burning wreckage and walked into the glare of the fast approaching sun. This was going to be easier than he thought…


	22. Curiosity Killed the Mice

"Wesker." Miranda's legs nearly buckled beneath her. Something was wrong. She could feel it in the pit of her stomach. She braced herself against the wall and willed her body to sit. Closing her eyes, she saw the metal skeleton of a plane on fire… Her skin burned at the thought. She put a hand to her stomach as a wave of nausea hit her like a head on collision.

"Miranda!" Riley's hobbling footsteps echoed down the hall. She opened her eyes to him, glad for the sudden distraction. She didn't like what she saw. It couldn't bode well. "You alright, M?" She nodded without answering. She was all right, but she couldn't say the same for Wesker. "You're not…" Riley dropped down beside her and patted her leg. "You know…uh…are you?" Miranda and Riley's eyes met with an unexpected flicker of alarm. Quickly, Miranda laughed. "Me?" She reached out and ruffled his hair. "Very funny." 

Riley grabbed her wrist and looked into her eyes. "Its good to have you back." He was so serious Miranda had to laugh again. 

"Sure." She got to her feet and helped him up. "Have they found a donor for you yet?" They walked along a hallway that Miranda had seen a dozen times before. She wasn't too interested in what was behind the doors here. She was, however, interested in the immense wooden door hidden in a dark corner of the hallway. She'd never been inside, and her curious cat side was just as willing to investigate as she was. Luckily Wesker wasn't around. He didn't always see things the way she did. 

Feeling giddy for some unknown reason, Miranda gripped Riley's arm. "I've got it!" She cried. The distressing thoughts of Wesker had begun to dissipate.

Riley looked at her as if she'd just grown an extra head. "Why is it that I'm getting left in the dark about everything?" He stuck out his lower lip in a mock pout. "Wesker…Jacks…and now you? Oh what is this world coming to?" He put a hand to his forehead and sighed. "Do I have some sort of disease…?"

"Riley," Miranda interrupted, her voice shaking. "I've found a donor for you." 

Robert Jacks had been to New York plenty of times in the past, but never to infiltrate a military base. This particular base, abandoned by the U.S. now belonged to a small group of anti-Umbrella soldiers. It seemed that they'd been sending out secret operatives from the base since the destruction of the Spencer Mansion. 

Why did Leon S. Kennedy think bringing an eight-year old girl to this specific location was safe? Surely he knew that Sherry was a valuable asset considering her background. Hell, for all they knew, Birkin could have been refining a new sort of virus inside his daughter's body. She was a ticking time bomb bound to do all who were involved more harm than good. He was right to say that she should have died. She would eventually be the death of them all. 

Checking the various concealed weapons on his person, Jacks adjusted the lab coat he'd gotten from Riley and prepared to gain access into the world of anti-Umbrella. Smiling ruefully, Jacks wondered how they would feel when they learned they had been out gunned by a man who'd also been burned by Umbrella.

The twisted wreckage that had once been an F-15 fighter jet had finally begun to smolder. The rain that was suddenly sweeping across the ravaged island had put out most of the flames. Slowly, a single hand that showed from beneath the bulk of the debris began to move. A deep moan reverberated from somewhere deep within. The earth trembled violently as if anticipating the next diablerie. 

**********************************************************

For Albert Wesker May twentieth would be imprinted on his memory forever. It was the night they'd found the body of that woman hiker in the woods of the Arklay Mountains. It was also the night he'd begun to truly hate Chris Redfield. But most importantly, it was the last night that he'd held Miranda in his arms as a human. Not that it had affected his ultimate decision. He'd had no other choice in the end. 

It had been raining hellishly since early afternoon. For that time of year it was strange to have such a downpour, but the residents of Raccoon City welcomed fervently.

Wesker had never cared much for smoking but sitting alone in the pitch-blackness of his home it seemed almost tempting. Ten years ago he'd sat inside the Arklay mansion and discussed his fate with other Umbrella researchers and Corporates. Ten years ago, he'd moved to the outskirts of Raccoon City and created the Special Tactics and Rescue Squad. Even then he'd known that someday he would betray them. All he'd needed was the right crew and the completion of the "Harley" Tyrant. Now all these conditions had fallen into place with an eerie sort of finality. 

Wesker was so lost in his thoughts he almost didn't hear the knock at the door. He opened it to find Miranda Harley standing in the darkness. She was soaked through to the skin and her clothes clung to her curves suggestively. Her hair hung limply around her face. It did nothing but enhance her unearthly beauty. She shivered visibly. "Wesker." Her voice was almost too soft in the thundering rain. "I'm sorry…" She'd never come to his home before. For ten years they'd met at Grady's Inn for their personal business.

Holding the door open, Wesker gestured for her to come inside. "I couldn't…" She paused again, unable to talk through a shiver. He rested his hands on her shoulders and looked down at her. Even in the darkness her sea green eyes glimmered.

"You're cold." He whispered. Leaning down his lips brushed hers. "Let's get you out of those clothes." Miranda shivered once again but nodded soundlessly.

He carried her to the bed and sat her on the edge, taking time to remove each article of clothing effortlessly. Miranda watched him silently, still shaking. Wesker leaned forward and kissed her lips again, this time pressing her body to the mattress. Miranda's small sigh gave him all the incentive he needed to move closer to her and his lithe fingers to drift over the length of her beautiful body. He paused for a moment at the curve of her breast and smiled to himself. Languidly, his lips touched dark circle at its center. Her intake of breath told him just what he needed to know. Lifting his head, he met her solemn gaze. 

"Wesker…" Her voice held a strange note of fear, but even that couldn't stop him. He needed her, no matter what her reasons were for coming to his residence. Miranda closed her eyes and slid her arms around him as he positioned himself above her. 

"Miranda." Very rarely had he spoken her name in the midst of their liaisons, but this time he couldn't stop it. Her legs locked around his waist and Wesker lost the control he'd been so carefully holding back. He had to take her and now…

At the resonating sound of the phone, Wesker's eyes shut tightly and he growled. Pausing for a moment, he frowned to think of the reasons that someone might have for calling him at this hour. Beneath him, Miranda sighed audibly. Finally Wesker roused himself and got to his feet, reaching for the phone on the night table. 

"What?" He barked. He could hear Miranda shifting around behind him. 

"Sir?" At the sound of Chris Redfield's voice, Wesker became incensed. "We've…that is…the RPD found something a few minutes ago." 

"And?" his annoyance was tangible. 

"They found a woman…You remember that woman who went missing a few weeks ago?" Chris' voice was halting, as if he were fighting back revulsion. 

"So?" 

Wesker moved to slam the phone back into its cradle when Chris spoke again. "It looks as if she was…eaten, Captain." 

"Eaten?" The sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach had grown steadily worse. It was happening at last. Somehow the T-virus had gotten loose from the basement laboratories. This knowledge might explain Miranda's appearance as well. Wesker paced as far as the cord would allow him to. 

"I really think you should come take a look at this, sir." Sirens were beginning to sound in the background. "This isn't normal. Something isn't right…" Even though Chris couldn't see him, he nodded. To keep up appearances, he'd have to show up and at least _look_ interested. Otherwise, he'd lose credibility when he needed it the most. 

"I'll be there within the hour." Wesker turned back to the night table keeping his eyes away from Miranda. "And Chris?" 

"Sir?" The rain was pounding so loudly it was hard to hear him.

"I should kill you." Chris laughed thinking Wesker's words a joke. It would take a little more than two months to learn that the Captain was not joking at all. 

Laying the phone down more gently than he wanted to, Wesker turned back to Miranda. She was sitting up with the sheet to her chin, quivering violently. He sat down beside her. He'd decided whatever was bothering her couldn't wait any longer. 

"There was an accident in the basement lab." She whispered. He felt as if her words had physically slammed into him. "The T-virus…" He moved a piece of hair out of her face and caught sight of a tear slipping down her cheek. "It's loose in the mansion." Her voice wavered. 

"How long?" His soft tone cut through the suddenly eerie silence.

"Last Monday." She answered quietly. "Scott and Alias came and woke everyone up. Pete Adams was the main researcher that night. He said he didn't know what went wrong. He's…oh god, he's dead." The tears were coming faster and Miranda wasn't trying to stop them. Wesker remained silent. He needed to hear the entire story. Its ending would effect the beginning of his plan. "And Plant 42…You remember?" She waited for him to nod before continuing. "Somehow it was saturated with the T-virus. It's grown out of control…" She looked away from him. "It's enormous. It moves on it's own like some sort of animal I've never seen anything like it. It only feeds on blood and… I guess flesh." Her shaking accelerated. "I saw it eat one of the dogs, Wesker. It just ripped it to pieces. God…if the plants could can do that…

"Scott told Rykerson about what happened and he went crazy. We were all in the Aqua Ring sector when he just started screaming and beating at his head…I've never heard anything…He demolished the tank…" Miranda pulled her knees to her chest and laid her head on them. "Neptune and his sons are loose in the Aqua Ring. They've been infected with the T-virus." She dragged in a ragged breath. "I thought the virus was supposed to help save lives. What the hell is happening?" She choked. "There are zombies, for god sake. I've seen them roaming around in the courtyard." 

Wesker stood, turned on the bedside lamp, and moved to the closet. He pulled out a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt. "Don't go back to that mansion, Harley." 

"I have to, Wesker." Miranda stayed where she was, watching him intently. "It's my home."

"You're a fool, Harley." Tucking in his shirt, he reached for the gun on the dresser and slid it into the back of his belt.

"Where am I supposed to go?"

"You mean too much to…" Pausing he realized he'd almost said something he'd sworn never to tell her. "Umbrella…They can't afford to lose you." Her sigh had ended the conversation and he'd gone to examine the body of the hiker with Chris and Jill. When he returned, Miranda was gone.

It would be two months until the sickening feeling that she was a beautiful zombie lost somewhere in the mansion left him. It would be two months until the two of them were reunited and he lost his soul…

*************************************************************

"Miranda." The rubble shifted and groaned as Albert Wesker pushed himself out of his would-be grave. His vision was swimming strangely. He stood motionless for a second or two and let the ground beneath his feet return to normal. "What the…?"

Dusting himself off, he growled and looked back at the wreckage. Narrowing his eyes, he turned his back on the plane. He'd lost most of his equipment in the crash, but that wouldn't stop him from completing his mission, much less from killing Vincent Goldman.

"Davis?" He touched the com-link at his ear. "Can you hear me?" He waited a few moments but only static answered him.

"You can't be serious." Riley raised an eyebrow and looked at her suspiciously. "You'd do that for me?" 

Miranda nodded. "Wesker said that Jacks couldn't give you his tissue, but he didn't say anything about me." 

"I'm all for that, M, but frankly I'd rather lose my leg than my head." The two of them had been standing in the same spot arguing the fate of Riley's leg for nearly half an hour. Neither had any inkling that something had gone awry with Wesker. 

"I want to talk to them." Miranda gestured to the large wooden door not far from where they were standing. "If they agree, then that's all the authorization we need. Riley, please Let me do this for you."

"But why?" Riley eyed her even more suspiciously. 

"You helped me, so I'm returning the favor. Besides," she cracked an exuberant smile. "It's no skin off my hide." The two of them laughed until they were holding their sides. 

"Now you're learning." Riley gasped. "What happened to you anyway?" He took in a deep breath and stared at her. Miranda blushed. She couldn't tell him what had happened the night before. Besides, it wasn't anyone else's business.

Never the less, he winked at her. "If you're sure you want to do this. " He said limping to the massive door. 

"Wait!" She caught his arm. "What if they're not in there?"

"Oh they're in there, M. They 're always there." 

Robert Jacks smiled wolfishly as the burly man that held his arm pressed against his backbone shoved him down a dark hallway. The door at the end opened as they reached it and Jacks was shoved inside. Finding his footing instantly, he braced himself for an instant death. 

He'd meant to get caught. This abandoned base was a myriad of rooms and hallways and he wasn't about to search every room for Sherry Birkin. He didn't have the time to waste and aside from that he became bored easily. 

"I assume you're a solider?" A thin man who sat behind a long metal table leaned forward and tilted his glasses to look at him. Jacks remained motionless. "Name and identification, sir?" 

"Robert Jacks. 3rd infantry division. U.S. Army." Jacks answer was direct. He wasn't _technically_ lying. All except the Army part, it was the truth. 

"Why are you here?" The burly man spoke from behind him. Jacks narrowed his eyes and waited for them to adjust to the semi-darkness. As always, he wished for Wesker's abilities. 

"Curiosity." Jacks muttered. Once again, it was only a partial lie. 

"Who sent you?" he recognized the voice that was speaking now, but only vaguely. 

"I'm not sure that's any of your business." He snapped. 

"Umbrella." The familiar voice spoke softly. "It's written all over him." 

The mist drew away from his mind and all at once he knew. "Leon S. Kennedy. It's a pleasure to meet you face to face." Jacks words were mocking. 

Leon stepped into the light and glared at him. "Who are you?" 

"Robert Jacks." He answered with an exasperated sigh. "I've encountered your precious Ada Wong." The uncomfortable shuffling in the room stopped instantaneously and Jacks had the feeling everyone in the room knew Leon's story. 

"Ada's dead." Leon answered curtly. 

"Is that so?" Jacks kept his tone light, no need to upset them all just yet. 

Leon moved forward despite the protests and spit in Jacks' face. Raising an eyebrow, Jacks smiled at him. "Now that wasn't very nice, Officer Kennedy. Or should I say ex-officer. Or how about never been an Officer?" His wicked laughter filled the room. The fist in his face sent him sprawling. He lay back and closed his eyes, pretending to be injured. Leon stood over him and glowered. "You shouldn't have done that." Jacks growled. He slammed the butt of his gun against the side of Leon's head and jumped up as the former "officer's" body slumped forward. 

The gunfire erupted around him, the bullets catching him in the mid-section and sending him back to the floor. The pain hit Jacks like a brick wall. He closed his eyes and heaved a suffering sigh. Then, he breathed no more…


	23. The Other Company Benefit

Albert Wesker was beyond angry. His attempts at reaching his crew had failed. For the time being he was alone on this godforsaken island. And what was worse, it seemed that someone had gotten here before him. The entire island was awash with bio-monsters. 

Standing in the doorway of an old church he frowned. So far there had been no sign of Vincent or anyone else for that matter. He understood that Vincent ran the island on his own for the most part, but even in a place as lowly as this, Umbrella had spies. However, there were none on this day. 

At the sound of helicopters Wesker turned his back on the church and looked toward the sky. "The Under Taker Unit…" He scratched his chin with a faint smile. 

Umbrella had created The Under Taker Unit not long after discovering that sending mercenaries in as a clean up crew was futile. These so-called soldiers would rid the infected area of survivors as well as any information that could be traced back to them. If attacked these creations would dissolve leaving no trace that they had ever existed. Disposing of these useless soldiers was easy enough with any sort of weapon. But without one, they could prove to be a bit of a hassle.

Vaulting over a roadblock, Wesker found himself in standing in the alleyway leading to a nightclub. A young boy burst through the back door a few feet ahead of him and bent over, gasping. The brown eyes caught sight of him and widened with fear. "Oh shit." 

"Watch your mouth." Wesker growled. 

"Who are you?" The boy stood, poised to run. 

"I'm looking for Commander Vincent." Wesker answered. He was suddenly glad not to have Miranda with him. She'd be begging him to save this boy. 

"He's awfully popular…" the boy muttered. Then to Wesker he said, "He's dead." 

Wesker's nose flared in rage and he slammed his fist into the brick wall. "How?" The boy quivered and stepped toward the opening in the alley. "How, damn you!" Wesker shouted. 

"He fell…" The boy panicked and ran. Wesker ran after him, tossing him against a phone booth. Closing his eyes and meaning to steady his voice, the boy told him about Ark Thompson and the shady death of Vincent Goldman. 

Dropping the boy, Wesker turned away. He wanted to kill something and feel its blood running between his fingers. "You'd better_ try _and get out of here. Fast." He snarled. " I doubt you'll make it very far." His malignant laugh echoed around them. The boy sprinted for all he was worth and disappeared into another building. 

"Hello?" Miranda's words slammed into the wall of darkness and returned to her. "Hello? Is anyone there?" 

"We are here." The female voice spoke softly. Miranda looked toward the sound, but in the inky blackness she saw nothing. 

"I'm sorry to intrude like this…" Never in all her life had she been afraid of other people. Not until now. "I wanted to ask a favor." 

"A favor?" a deep male voice asked. "A favor from one such as you? We thought Mr. Wesker was supplying you with everything you needed." 

"He does." Miranda said quietly. "He is." Her words held much more meaning than she'd intended. "It's about Riley Davis…I wanted…"

"Would you die for him, Ms. Harley?" The other male spoke almost too softly. 

"For Riley?" Miranda asked haltingly. "Of course I would." 

"Would you die for him?" The man repeated. 

"Would you die for Albert Wesker?" the female chimed in. 

Without hesitation Miranda smiled. "Yes." 

"Tell Mr. Davis to prepare everything he'll need for the procedure. We'll take care of the rest." The deepest voice told her. 

Miranda could barely contain her excitement. "Thank you…" she began.

"Are you sure this is a wise decision, Ms. Harley?"

Wondering if they could see her, she nodded. "He's my friend."

"Leave us." The female voice said in a tone Miranda didn't quite understand. "You have much to prepare for." Staying on her feet was more difficult than she thought. 

"Thank you." She whispered to the darkness. 

"Ms. Harley." The other male stopped her at the door. "The dreams will not recede. Inevitably you will learn their meanings." 

"I can't believe we killed him." The words sounded shaky and distant. Jacks tried to force his eyes to open but they wouldn't budge. "What the hell was that all about anyway?" 

"Shut up, Brutus." Another voice, less shaky, filled the darkness around him. "And hurry up." 

"I'm serious, man. What the hell were we thinking? He attacked Kennedy sure but that was no reason to shoot him." The one called Brutus kept talking. 

"_I_ didn't shoot first. Besides, he had a gun." Jacks found that he couldn't catch his breath and yet strangely that didn't seem to be affecting his conscious mind. 

"Which we all thought he was checked for…_Brutus_…" Another man snapped. 

"I don't know where it came from I swear to God." Strong hands were gripping both his arms and legs and Jacks realized that they were moving. 

"Oh yeah, Brut…It came right out of his ass." The other man said sharply. 

"Who do you suppose he worked for?" Jacks was hefted and he swayed violently. It was obvious these men had no respect for the dead. Or half dead as it were…

"Kennedy said it was Umbrella. If that was true, he deserved to die." 

"Scum." Yet another man chimed in. "He was probably trying to get to that little girl." 

"The little bitch? I wish we could just kill her. She's a hell of a lot more trouble than she's worth. I wish Kennedy would never have brought her here." Jacks tried to smile but even his facial muscles were unmoving. He promised himself that if he recognized the voice he would not kill the man speaking.

"They're going to kill us all, you know that."

"Shut up." 

"It's true and you know it. Umbrella's too powerful. Beside that, they're not the only ones out there. There's other Companies who'd give an arm and a leg for those Bio-weapons." The other man spoke harshly. 

"An arm and a leg? Try human life in general." 

"Shut up." Brutus said suddenly. "We won't let that happen. We've got those S.T.A.R.S. people to help." 

At the mention of the name, Jacks ears perked up. So, Chris and Jill thought they could take out Umbrella? They wouldn't do anything of the sorts with this bunch of buffoons. They couldn't even kill a simple operative from the "Other Company". 

"What do we do with him?" 

"Take him out back and bury him." 

"Yeah. If he worked for Umbrella, I doubt anyone will come looking for him." Moments later, Jacks felt himself being dumped unceremoniously on the hard ground. Still exhausted from his earlier ordeal, Jacks returned to the silent dark. 

Riley sat on the edge of the operating tables watching as Miranda helped the red headed doctor, James, finish what he needed to make the skin transfer. Sighing, he knew they should have gone to Wesker first. Like always, it was a gut feeling that he was not going to be happy with Miranda's decision. Hell, he was never happy with anyone's decision. Shrugging off the nagging feeling was the only way he was going to feel better. 

"Why do you suppose Jacks hates me so much?' He asked, just to make conversation. Miranda looked up and him a furrowed her eyebrows. 

"It's not that he hates you, it's just…" She paused for a moment to think. "He's so much like Wesker it's hard to get him to be anything but an ass." Riley snorted with laugher as the doctor looked at her in horror. 

"You don't mean that." He said at last. 

"I'm still mad at him about Sherry." She opened a case of surgical knives and held one up to the light. 

"Uh…On second thought…"Riley eyed the knife with a loud gulp. "How about you keep your skin and I'll…" 

"What's worse?" Miranda smiled at him. "A little old incision or a slice from this?" She lifted up a small saw. "They call this a bone saw." Her eyes gleamed wickedly. "You wouldn't believe how painful it is when they cut through that tissue and bone. I've seen grown men cry." 

"Screw the grown men part, I'm about to cry just looking at it." Riley shivered and looked away. "I'm not so sure about this." 

"It's the only way." She answered after a long silence. "If you're going to work with Wesker, you've got to be fully operational. You know as well as I do that he hates weak spots." Riley nodded but said nothing. It wasn't so much Wesker that bothered him. He wouldn't let himself be a weak spot. He'd never been at a disadvantage like this before. He'd always done his part and hadn't depended on anyone. Now he felt like extra baggage. Sighing loudly, he looked toward her and smiled pitifully. "Let's do this thing." 

Miranda got to her feet and kissed him on the cheek. "Not to worry, Riley. We'll be okay." 

"So said Helen of Troy and look what happened to them." 

"You know your history. I'm impressed." Miranda put her forehead to his and closed her eyes. 

"I know my history, yeah. But what about you? The only thing I really know is that you and Wesker were…ah…something. And Sherry is…" Her soft fingers stopped him from saying more. 

"Give me a few minutes." The red head doctor muttered. "I've got to get some extra supplies and help." Without another word he left and slammed the door behind him. Riley screwed up his face and stuck out his tongue. 

"Have you ever noticed how brown his nose is?" He elbowed her in the side as she sat down next to him. "Wesker will know all about this before we even wake up." 

She patted his leg, choosing to ignore the comment. She didn't want to think about Wesker's reaction. "What do you want to know?" 

"You and Wesker have mentioned on several occasions that you used to work at Umbrella. I'm pretty sure I understand that you are the creator of the original Tyrant. But… How did you get mixed up with Umbrella?" 

Suddenly, she would give anything to change the subject. Yet she was the one who'd given him the go ahead. "My father was one of the first men working for Umbrella. I was practically born in the Spencer mansion." 

"So that would make you…" Riley hesitated. "Wow. You must have known everything about it. Didn't you?" 

Miranda nodded. "It was how I stayed alive after the T-virus got loose from the basement lab. I used the secret tunnels and keys to escape. It worked until Wesker let the Hunters loose." 

"Wesker?" Riley stared at her with his mouth open. "Did he know you were alive?" 

"If he did, he didn't care." She said grimly. "Not that I blame him. Those idiots from S.T.A.R.S; you should have seen them. Running and screaming like children. One guy even had a bazooka and couldn't kill the damn things." She closed her eyes. "The crows got him. Stripped the flesh clean off the bone." 

"I know what that's like." He snorted indignantly. "What happened when the Hunters were loosed?" 

"I went back to the basement lab and waited. I'd originally planned to let the Tyrant out of his holding tank and get him out of the mansion. But someone had changed the access codes." 

"Wesker." Riley answered softly. Miranda nodded again. 

"He must have gotten there before me. I'm beginning to wonder how long he'd had it planned to do this." 

"A long time." He told her. "The HCF knew of his plans three months before the incident at the Arklay mansion. But I don't think he did anything with the T-virus deliberately. I think the accident was genuine. We just happened to benefit from it." 

"Benefit?" Miranda glared at him. "I lost my home, my job, my "_human" _lover, not to mention my own life. Where in the hell does the benefit come in?" 

"You're happier here aren't you?" Riley snapped. Miranda didn't look at him. It wasn't his fault she'd lost everything. It wasn't his fault her daughter was dead. 

"Yes." It was a lie of sorts but she _was _happy to be with Wesker and happy to have Riley as a friend. It was just something that would take some time getting used to. 

The red headed doctor returned with four others and gestured for them to lay down on the surgical tables. They did so, each sighing uneasily. The injection of sedatives was more painful than Miranda expected it to be. 

She looked over at Riley, her world spinning. "Eleanor." He said slowly. "I meant to ask you about Eleanor…" 


	24. Two Unmarked Graves

Robert Jacks took in a gasping breath only to get a mouthful of dirt. He tried to force his eyes to open but once again the dirt hindered him. Opening and closing his fingers was more difficult than he wanted to admit. With every new discovery Jacks was becoming enraged. Shoving his arm up through the dirt, he found the freedom to move his fingers. It was all the leverage he needed to pull his entire body through the muck and mire. 

Looking around he realized that he was in a makeshift cemetery chock-full of unmarked graves. His own grave was no more than three feet deep. "Lazy bastards. No respect for the dead…They couldn't even bury me correctly." He shook his head roughly and pulled in another gasping breath. He was relieved to be breathing at all, and yet, strangely his thoughts had never strayed toward death. Never once throughout the whole ordeal had he felt truly dead. He'd been at the point of dissolution once before and he knew without a doubt it wouldn't be hard to recognize the sensations a second time. 

"Son of a bitch." He caught sight of the gaping holes in his shirt and growled. He could still feel the bullets lodged in his stomach. His moronic killers hadn't even checked him for other weapons. Yanking the knife from its holster on his leg Jacks used it to methodically dig each slug from its resting-place in his abdomen. The thought crossed his mind that through it all he had felt minimal pain. Even then it hadn't remained long. It was time to find Sherry and get back to the HCF before Wesker came looking for him. 

Wesker grasped the metal security doors in both hands and wrenched them open. The doors protested loudly but slid past their bearings. He'd been in enough Umbrella laboratories to know the layout without having to look where he was going. 

A sardonic smile crossed his lips at the sight of the Tyrant in the chemical tank. If only Harley had known her beloved Vincent Goldman had been stealing her research. He wondered how much she would have warmed to him if she'd known. 

On the upper level he'd read Vincent's work on Beta Hetero Nonserotonin. This complex name was nothing more than active brain secretion made from extreme fear and anxiety. With this simple difference in the genetics of the Tyrant, there would be no proof that he had taken Miranda's creation. He was safe from her taking over his study as well. Everyone within Umbrella knew Miranda Harley had never been totally aware of the truth.

He'd continued looking for Vincent in spite of what the boy had said. No one in Umbrella died that easily. It wasn't the simplex order of things. He'd also been looking for another way off the island since it was obvious he wouldn't be using his plane. 

Here in the research room, Wesker found the answer to all his problems. The figure stood in the shadows, breathing heavily and holding his side. Without looking closely he knew it was Vincent.

"Wesker?" His voice was distant and racked with pain. 

"Vincent." 

"What are you…why are you here?" He moved slowly forward and into the semi-light of the nearest console. Wesker narrowed his eyes. He wasn't certain how much Vincent knew about what had happened at the Arklay mansion. When he didn't answer, Vincent groaned and sat on the floor. "I knew they'd send you. Umbrella's number one assassin. So they know what's happened." 

"They do." 

"She gave the order." Vincent said, meaning Miranda Harley. 

"She did." 

"She's still bitter about…I should have known. Kill me then. I can't take this pain." 

Wesker's smile made his blood run cold. "I'm not here to kill you." 

Vincent scratched at his chest absentmindedly. "It's hot in here." He said finally. "I'll ask you again. Why are you here?"  
"Questions." Wesker told him simply. "And an escape route." 

"Easy enough. How about a Helicopter? You can fly one…right?" He got to his feet and staggered. "We'll get to the questions…later." 

Wesker grabbed his arm roughly and jerked him the rest of the way up. "Where is the helicopter?" 

Vincent bent forward and threw up. Wesker ignored the green liquid sliding down the toes of his boots. "There." He answered unsteadily. "The heli-pad has already been used… the self-destruct sequence…" 

"You stupid…" Wesker's grip tightened on Vincent's arm as he dragged him toward the remaining helicopter. "I never understood where they found you morons in the first place." 

"Not so fast, you son of a…"Vincent said slowly. "My leg is killing me." 

"Screw your leg." At the heli-pad, Wesker tossed him in the direction of the helicopter. "Get in." Stumbling, Vincent fell to his knees. 

"I can't." He said through gritted teeth. Wesker left him there and checked the helicopter to make sure it was operational. The ground beneath his feet began to rumble and groan. It wouldn't be long before the whole island exploded. 

He returned to Vincent and caught the tail end of a bloody smile. "What's so funny?" He growled. Helping him to stand, he pushed him into the co-pilot's seat. 

"You. I mean…you know everything…you're such a…you're such an asshole." He answered, coughing haggardly. He sat in the seat scratching at his arms. Wesker's snort of laughter seemed to startle him. "It's burning." Without warning, he vomited on the floor. "Dear god it hurts." Ignoring his painful moaning Wesker jumped into the pilot's seat and guided the helicopter into flight. 

Moonlight Sonata was playing on the stereo in the corner of a dark room. Leon S. Kennedy sat alone, trying to force down the bile in his throat. He felt guilty for letting them kill that man, but at the time he hadn't been able do much about it. 

Again he wondered whom that man had worked for. It didn't seem likely that he had come from Umbrella. If he had, there would have been something identifying him. The black uniform just didn't seem to fit. 

But what bothered him the most was the fact that the man had called him by name. For the life of him, he couldn't remember. And how had he known about Ada? He'd only known Ada for that short period of time and he was pretty sure they'd been alone. It really didn't matter however, the man was dead and dead men told no tales. Reaching over, he plunged the room into silence. In most cases dead men told no tales, but that meant nothing to Umbrella. 

He had to go and check on Sherry. For some reason, he'd been doing that a lot lately. What could he possibly be worried about? Sherry was safe. Wasn't she? 

A large group of men sat around a metal table tossing poker cards into a pile. The boisterous laughter echoed down the hallway and made it impossible to hear the impending doom that was headed their way. As the door fell to the floor, ripped from its hinges, the clamor dissipated. 

Robert Jacks stood in the now open doorway and grinned at them wickedly. Not one man moved. "Gentlemen." He said, holding out a closed fist for all of them to see. "I believe these are yours." Opening his hands he let the bullets, once lodged in his abdomen, fall to the floor. 

Vincent Goldman's skin turned a sickly green and his eyes had begun to glaze over with pain. He'd been moaning incessantly. Wesker swore under his breath in aggravation. 

They were now a hundred and twenty five miles away from Sheena Island and thousands of miles from their destination. "If we're going to Rockfort Island, Wesker, we're going to wrong way." Vincent said weakly. 

"I know that." 

"If not Rockfort perhaps the Antarctic?" He seemed a bit better. Color was returning to his cheeks. 

"The Antarctic is not a prison island."

"You're driving me insane. Don't you ever say anything?" He shouted suddenly. Wesker watched out of the corner of his eye as Vincent bent and began heaving. "Open the door." His voice was raspy. "I'm not throwing up in the cockpit anymore. I can't handle the smell." Growling, Wesker threw open the hanger door. He maneuvered the helicopter into a stationary position and waited for Vincent to finish. 

Vincent's body disappeared through the doorway before Wesker could make a grab at him. "You stupid…" He had other plans for Mr. Goldman and at the current moment they didn't include death. 

Hearing the splash, Wesker jumped in after him. Almost instantly he knew something had once again gone terribly wrong. It became even more apparent when the sandbag hit him in the back and accelerated his descent into the water. 

The metal cord tied to his ankle was making it impossible to claw his way to the surface and the sandbag was dragging him down to a dark and watery grave. Angrily, Albert Wesker screamed, but the air bubbles were the only things returning to the surface. 

"Terribly sorry there wasn't enough room for the both of us." Vincent Goldman laughed painfully. "Those sandbags are somewhat heavy." Smiling to himself, he sat in the pilot's seat and patted himself on the back for making sure a sandbag still remained on this particular craft. He'd been using the sandbags to ensure the weight limit was maxed on each helicopter to avoid unwanted passengers. 

He coordinated his global position on the monitors. He 'd be heading to the nearest Umbrella facility to report Albert Wesker's death directly to Ozwell Spencer. Then he would have Miranda Harley and there would be no one to stop him. 

Perhaps she would make an excellent test subject for his next Tyrant. It would be ironic that the next "Harley" Tyrant would be Harley herself.

Coughing haggardly, he watched the blood pool on the console in front of him. Vincent had no way of knowing that no one would ever see him alive again. 


	25. Finders Keepers

"Wesker!" The scream echoed in the tiny recovery room and sent a sleeping scientist to his feet. Miranda Harley sat up in her hospital bed and gasped for breath, but her eyes remained closed. 

"Ms. Harley!" The man shouted, gently shaking her shoulders. 

"Wesker!" Her desperate cry only grew louder. 

"Here." A soft voice spoke from behind the scientist. Riley Davis hobbled to the bed and sat down, pulling Miranda against his chest. "I'm here." 

She gulped on much needed air, but her eyes still didn't open. Slowly her breathing returned to normal. "Safe and sound, Wesker." Riley muttered to the ceiling as he stroked Miranda's hair. "Safe and sound." 

For Leon Kennedy his irrational fears of losing Sherry had just become extremely rational. "Sherry!" He shouted to the empty room. But Sherry Birkin would not hear him. She had disappeared without a trace. 

"Looking for something, Officer Kennedy?" At the sound of his name, Leon turned. 

"You." He was staring into the face of a dead man. "Robert Jacks." Jacks took a small mocking bow. 

"I am he." 

Leon glared at the man in black. "Where's Sherry?" He ground out. 

"It seems to me you have a problem keeping up with people." Jacks snorted. Leon jumped at him and tackled him to the floor. Jacks grabbed him by the neck and balanced himself on Leon's throat. "You're sort of a slow learner, huh?" 

Leon's gun at his temple just made his smile broader. "Smile at this." Leon pulled the trigger and watched in relief as Jacks fell to the floor. He was not aware that the bullet had missed his opponent completely. He stood and moved to the door. "Sherry?" He shouted to the hallway. Behind him Robert Jacks rose slowly. 

"Mr. Kennedy." He said deliberately. "I've had a very bad life." Grabbing him by his hair, Jacks hauled him backward. "I've been killed more times than you can count and I still keep coming back." Leon grabbed at his wrist to no avail. "I'm about to kick your ass because not only will it boost my ego, it will make me feel a hell of a lot better." He yanked at his hair harder and pulled him backward so he could get a clean shot at his ribs. 

The pain arced through Leon like lighting and he gasped. He hadn't known anyone could kick that hard. When Jacks let him go, he fell to the floor and lay still for a few moments trying to focus on anything but the pain. "It won't help you." Jacks whispered in his ear. 

"Where's Sherry?" Leon shouted at last, climbing to his feet. Miraculously he'd held onto his gun. "I mean it, asshole. Give her to me." 

Jacks stood back and scratched at his chin. "Kiss my…" The gun fired into his shoulder before he could even finish his sentence. He looked down at the wound and then back at Leon, a curt laugh echoing around them. "Don't you listen?" he roared storming toward a receding Kennedy. "I said I've had a _very_ bad life!" He drove the heel of his hand into the soft flesh below his chin and watched as Leon's head snapped backward. 

Leon fell to his knees in a daze. His eyes were beginning to glaze over as Jacks stood above him. "Where's Sherry?" He asked again, through his haze.

"I'll put it this way," the deep wicked tone floated unhindered through his mind. "Finders keepers." The fist that connected with his nose went unnoticed. Leon S. Kennedy had already lost consciousness. 

The metal cord broke easily in Wesker's fingers and in the same instance he was breaking through the surface. He filled his lungs with air even though it wasn't necessary. He pounded the water with his fist. He couldn't believe he'd fallen for one of the oldest tricks in the book. The anger boiling inside of him was threatening to send him over the edge. Once again he felt like killing something, just to see its blood run through his fingers. He imagined yanking out Chris Redfield's heart. The bloody image did nothing to soothe the monster inside of him. 

"I guess you're not dead, Banana Head." Wesker knew without having to look who the voice belonged to. 

"Eleanor." He said softly. Miranda's pained recognition of the bird flashed across his memory. 

"That's my name, ask me again and I'll tell you the same." The infernal yellow bird was perched on a piece of driftwood, turning her head from one side to the other. 

"To what do I owe the honor of your presence?" He growled. He was in no mood to be insulted, which was what this particular bird did best. 

"Don't take that tone with me, you know as well as I it pertains to she." 

"Miranda?" Wesker kicked his feet in the water. He was having no trouble staying afloat, but his temper was beginning to flare. 

"Did you think I meant you, Captain Pew?" 

"Not that again." Sneering he felt for the gun in its holster on his hip. Even though it was wet there was still some chance it might pull off one last round. 

"I wouldn't do that, you crazy cat." Eleanor flew into the air and flapped her wings in his face, the salt water from her gusts stinging his eyes. 

"Tell me what you have to say, then leave." He finally shouted batting at her with the arm he wasn't using to cover his eyes. "I hate birds." The atmosphere around them suddenly seemed to change. Eleanor was no longer playing with him. She landed on his shoulder and bent her head close to his ear. 

"From dust she came. To dust she'll return. Within your arms let her passion burn. As Satan walks upon her grave, know you now of the life she saved. One life for another, it's hers to trade. Dare you question the life you made?"

"What the hell does that mean?" He roared, trying to shrug her off his shoulder. 

"You'll know soon enough." She answered flying off his shoulder and high into the air. "For now I'll say adieu, Captain Pew." 

Wesker slapped his fists on the water's surface and growled in frustration. He didn't see how his day could get any worse. If he didn't kill something and soon, the monster inside him was likely to do the job for him. He'd been keeping it well in check so far, but he couldn't keep it up forever. Could Eleanor possibly have meant that he was going to kill Miranda? He closed his eyes. He hoped that it wasn't true. He needed her in more ways than he wanted to admit. She was the only living link he had to Umbrella. She was the key to his future…


	26. No News is Good News

"Bingo!" Miranda's jubilant shout echoed down the dark hallway followed closely by Riley's exasperated sigh. 

"For the hundredth time…M…I told you. It's UNO!" The sigh came again. "When you get to your last card, you yell "Uno", not Bingo. Now draw a card." 

"Damn." Lighting lit up the empty rooms and cast out eerie shadows on the hallway. For a moment they illuminated the figure of a man walking slowly but intently toward the room where Miranda and Riley sat playing cards. "Bingo!"

The sound of wet shoes stopped Riley from saying more. He sat forward and narrowed his eyes. "Did you hear that?" They were sitting on the bed that Wesker and Miranda usually shared playing cards. While they were recovering, there wasn't much else to do. 

"Yeah." Miranda whispered. She laid her last card on the pile. "It's the sound of me kicking your ass again. Bingo!" 

"It's not Bingo damn it!" Riley shrugged off the overwhelming thought that something disastrous was about to occur. 

Another flash of lighting revealed the form of Albert Wesker in the doorway. His face was set in an angry sneer. "What the hell are you two doing in here?" He was soaking wet from head to toe. Water dripped onto the floor in riotous fashion. 

At the sound of his voice, Miranda jumped. She looked at Riley, her own face a well of emotions. Suddenly she smiled. "Bingo." She said softly as she held up some of the Uno cards. "We've been playing Bingo." Riley sighed again. 

Wesker didn't answer her. He was staring at the white cotton nightgown that clung to her curves as if even they couldn't bear not to touch her skin. Angrily, he grabbed her by the hips and dragged her off the bed. Miranda's cry of pain stopped him instantly and he set her down on her feet. Glaring down at her he spoke to Riley. "Get out." Without argument, Riley did as he was told. It wouldn't do to provoke Wesker's anger further. "I'll deal with you later." 

As soon as Riley was gone, Wesker yanked the gown up over her hips and scowled. He reached out and gently touched the bandage on her left hip that was rapidly turning red. Miranda gazed at him steadily, but didn't move. "What have you done?" His eyes narrowed as she tipped up her chin in defiance. 

"I gave Riley my tissue." She spoke proudly. If he hadn't been so angry, he would have recognized the pride that welled up in his stomach. But for the moment he chose to ignore everything. 

"Stay here." He growled under his breath. "I'm not finished with you either." He turned to quickly to see Miranda's mutinous glare. 

Standing in front of the Head Office doorway he finally realized what he was doing. The door was already open as if they were expecting him. He entered and stood in the darkness. Not for the first time he wondered why this darkness was almost tangible. It was as if it were somehow alive. 

"Mr. Wesker." The female voice greeted him, although her greeting sounded somewhat indistinct. 

"Who gave Miranda Harley the authorization to give Davis her body?" He snarled 

"We did, Mr. Wesker." The deep male voice spoke in even tones. 

"Why?" His own voice lowered to a deadly decibel. 

"Why does it matter so much to you?" the other man sounded interested. 

"She is mine." Wesker growled softly. 

"_She_ does not belong here." The female spoke in a deliberate tone. 

Wesker opened his mouth and closed it again. "She is mine." He repeated at last. 

"Understandable, Mr. Wesker." The deep male voice added. 

"She will pay for your sins." The female warned. Wesker glared at through the darkness and knew she saw his eyes. Without another word, he left them. Whatever they'd meant to tell him had fallen on deaf ears. He'd had his share of riddles to last a lifetime. 

"Riley!" Wesker bellowed. 

"Wesker!" Riley shouted back, leaning his head out the side lab doorway. "Jacks isn't back, I have a cramp in my other leg, and I think I ate way too many beans for dinner." Slowly but surely, Wesker gave him a half smile. He was winding down a little. "Miranda can cook, bro. Man can she cook. Did you know that?" 

"No." He answered harshly. "We have other things to discuss Mr. Davis." 

"Listen, Wesker, it was just a game of Bingo. Miranda didn't want to be alone." He muttered defensively. "Her dreams are getting worse." 

"I know." Wesker said without looking at him. "But that's not what I came here to talk about." Riley cocked an eyebrow and frowned. He was almost sure the Captain was going to beat the living daylights out of him. He'd been preparing himself for it. "Some one got to Sheena Island before I did and did my work for me." 

"Shit." Riley muttered. 

"Eleanor showed up." 

"The yellow rhyming bird?" He waited until Wesker nodded. "What the hell for?" 

"She said something about the life I choose. I wasn't really listening to her." He snapped. By watching his face Riley knew that he knew exactly what she'd said and he had no intention of sharing. "But what I'd like to know is why the hell you never answered the com-link?" He growled. 

"Someone shut down communications I guess. I'd been trying to reach you but the link never responded. I thought you wanted to take care of everything alone so I left it alone." Riley answered with a sniff. "I was only doing what I thought you wanted." 

"And what of Jacks?" 

"I lost communications with him around the same time." 

"Was it because you were more worried about getting your tissue than doing your job?" 

"You are such an asshole." Riley said sharply. 

Wesker laughed. "I've been told so." Both he and Riley sat silent for a few moments staring at the monitors in front of them. 

"I've got some good news and a bunch of bad news." He said at last. Wesker looked at him and scowled. 

"And what might that be?" 

"The bad news?" 

"Whatever." 

"We'll start simple." Riley muttered. "I've finished the Hunter prototype that I was telling you about." Leaning forward he pulled a small remote out of the drawer. "Push the button." Wesker did as Riley asked and instantly the camera machine in front of them came to life. A projector-like light illuminated him and suddenly and earsplitting alarm began to sound. Riley tossed him a gun and Wesker gave him a confused glare. 

The Hunter burst into the room with lighting speed and made a dive for Wesker. But the man was quicker than the beast as he pulled the trigger. The Hunter fell to the floor and was immediately asleep. Slowly a wicked smile spread across Wesker's face and he began to laugh depravedly. 

"You are a genius." Wesker said patting Riley on the back. His wicked smile remained. He was already thinking of the myriad of ways to use this device in the destruction of Chris Redfield. He would never suspect a machine like this one. "Now what about the bad news?" 

"The head office has started talking about Miranda not belonging with us. They claim she's going to "pay" for your sins. I haven't been in their office since you left that they haven't said something about it." 

"It doesn't matter. Miranda Harley is nothing but extra baggage. If something were to happen then that is of no consequence to me." He lied. 

"How can you say that?" Riley said silently. 

"She is a hassle and tends to be more of a hindrance than help. You have a tendency to be that way yourself." He snorted. "What else?" His patience was beginning to run thin. 

"You remember Marcus Baker?" Wesker didn't answer him, they both knew he did. "Well I failed to mention that he's…well…he's a zombie." 

"So?" Wesker's voice was deadly. 

"It's your fault. I mean…you were the last one to come into contact with him." 

"Let me see him." 

Marcus Baker sat in a small room the size of a linen closet chained to the wall. At this time of night he was feeding on a small rat that the staff had left for him. He wasn't himself to say the least. As Riley and Wesker opened the door, his head snapped up and his sightless eyes snapped open. He moaned loudly. 

"We've been keeping his body from deteriorating using muscle enhancers and feeding him some sort of live meal every twelve hours. So far he's come out all right." 

"Why?" Wesker hadn't taken his eyes off the zombie who had once been a smart mouthed scientist who thought too highly of himself. 

"We've been studying him to find out more about you." Riley answered. He couldn't stand to see Marcus this way. Even if they weren't friends he didn't think anyone deserved to end up this way. Anyone except Umbrella, that was. "The virus is growing and somehow mutating inside you. For some reason, you can infect others. I'm not sure if that same way the zombies do or you have some other method. We'll have to find that out as well. But you need to be careful." 

Wesker narrowed his eyes in anger. "Why should I?" 

"I only meant that…oh hell…never mind, _Captain_…Kill us all." Riley muttered. He slammed the door to Marcus Baker's room and stomped off down the hall. Wesker stared after him for a long moment wondering what had gotten into him. Finally he turned and headed back to his own room. It was time to deal with Miranda. 

Miranda Harley had always loved taking a bath. She loved the feel of water on her skin and as she sank into the steaming water, tonight was no exception. She barely even recognized the sting from her stitches. They would heal in a few days. 

Closing her eyes, she slid beneath the water and let it wash over her in healing waves. 

Albert Wesker stood over her watching her. He couldn't keep himself from touching her any longer. Kneeling he placed his hand into the warm water and let it rest on her lower belly….

***********************************************************

"Push, Ms. Harley." A doctor was shouting. Wesker opened his eyes to a scene that he was only an observer to. Miranda lay on a table; her sweat drenched hair plastered to her forehead. 

"Doctor." A nurse whispered trying to keep Miranda from hearing. "The baby is breech. It would be best to take it by C-section." 

"Wesker." Her voice was strained and it sounded as if she were about to cry. He wanted to tell her that he was there, but just like it had been with Sherry, it would be pointless. "Oh god it hurts." She bit her lip to keep from screaming and Wesker felt his insides tighten. Why hadn't she told him she was pregnant? Had she been so sure she knew what his response would be? 

"It's too late," The doctor said. "She's already lost too much blood. We may lose her as it is." 

"Wesker…"

*************************************************************

He jerked his hand away at the sound of her weak voice. "Wesker." Miranda was sitting up staring at him. He steadied himself before looking at her again. She'd almost died and it was entirely his fault. Was the head office right? Was she going to die for him again? 

Her hand reached out and she gently touched his wrist. It was all the incentive he needed to lean forward and cover her lips with his own. Miranda sighed contentedly. "I missed you." She whispered. 

"I know." He no longer had control over his actions. He removed his shirt and pants and slid into the water above her. 

"Wesker…"she protested. "The water…" 

"Is irrelevant." He said softly. He ran a hand through her hair and gave her a dark look. He would have her at any cost and that was punishment enough….

Hours later as they lay on the cool sheets and her fingers dug into the skin of his back, he watched her sea green eyes grow stormy with passion. _Within your arms let her passion burn._

He kept his eyes on her as she arched her back against him and called out his name. For that moment the world revolved around them. Not even death could take her away from him. He would storm heaven and hell to have her here in his arms.


	27. Morals and Sherry

"Do you remember Dr. Marcus?" Miranda stretched out beside him in the darkness, yawning. 

"No." Wesker's curt answer took her by surprise. 

"Yes you do." Miranda argued. She put an arm across his chest and propped herself up so she could look into his eyes. "He was that nice old man with the age spots and the thin white hair…He worked with…" She paused and seemed to rethink her strategy. "He worked with those leeches." 

"No." He said sharply. His voice held a warning that Miranda promptly ignored. 

"_Dr. James Marcus._" She insisted. "He worked with us to trying to cultivate that virus…Progenitor…you and William and me…Remember? I wonder what ever happened to him. He'd almost finished with his research."

"One can only imagine." He snapped. 

"See!" Miranda said proudly. "I told you, you knew who I was talking about!"

"That's enough." Grabbing her wrists, he pushed her off and sat up. His eyes were flaming red. "I remember Dr. Marcus." Miranda sat up across from him and frowned. 

"What happened to him?" she didn't know why she was asking Wesker that question, but somehow she knew he'd have the answer.

"Umbrella wanted him out of the way. They sent Birkin and myself to get the job done…" He wasn't looking at her. He was looking over her shoulder into space as if he were reliving the memory. "Two members of the Umbrella Mercenary team executed him. Birkin and I made sure the job was done correctly. His body was disposed of…"

"Wesker…" the words caught in her throat. She knew a lot more about this man than she wanted to admit, but this… He nodded, as if reading her thoughts. "Why?" 

He shook his head. "Dr. Marcus was continuing research without authorization. He had begun using Umbrella staff and trainees in his experiments. He had been given a myriad of orders to stop working on the Progenitor but he refused. It was Spencer who gave the final command to execute him "

"Ozwell Spencer? You must be joking." Miranda put a hand to her mouth. She seemed distraught at the very mention of Spencer. "Dr. Marcus was only trying to help. His virus was supposed to reverse the effects of the Alzheimer's disease." 

Wesker shook his head. "You're a fool, Harley." Miranda narrowed her eyes and glared at him. "You are so naive."

"Why is that?" Her voice was laden with anger.

"You think Umbrella was cultivating viruses to save the world? Do you really believe that your research on the Tyrant and the Nemesis was to save prisoners of war?" Even in the darkness she saw him lift an eyebrow and give her a smug smile. 

"Why would Umbrella lie?" 

His brusque laugh sent chills down her spine. "If you knew the truth about what they were doing would you _really_ have completed your research?" He pressed on without giving her the chance to answer. "You have morals, Miranda. They knew you did and were not willing to risk your brilliance by telling you the truth. They needed you." 

"Morals?" Miranda spat. Leaning forward her face came within inches of his. "Oh sure. I had morals. Where do I start?" 

"Harley, don't do this…" Her heated gaze told him that she had already passed the point of no return. There was no stopping her now. 

"Let's see…I slept with a man for nearly twelve years who would never marry me…who would never think of me as anything other than a means to an end. He basically used my body as his own personal playground and I let it happen. Hell, I even enjoyed it." Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she began to shout. "I knew the truth about the way he really felt. I just kept returning to him like a yo-yo on string. I let him screw my brains out. I hated him with a passion I'd never known and I loved him the same way." She jabbed a finger in his chest. "I gave the Birkins my…" She paused before she revealed the very secret she'd sworn never to tell him. 

"Miranda." Wesker's voice held a dark warning, but she ignored him again. "I buried the man I thought was Ozwell Spencer in the Arklay woods and killed the man who'd helped me." Wesker's lips were set in a grim line but he said nothing. 

Miranda pushed away from the bed, wrapping the sheet around her as she turned her back on him. "I shot the man in the forehead and buried him in a shallow grave no more than ten feet from Ozwell's grave. And you know what?" She dragged in a sobbing breath. "I'm not sorry either." 

"Miranda…" Wesker stood and reached out to touch her shoulder, but his hand came up short. 

"Tell me about my morals, Albert Wesker." She had moved toward the window and was staring out at the night sky. "Get out." Her voice was no more than a harsh whisper. 

Wesker nodded. His mind was overwhelmed with all things she'd just told him. Without another word he pulled on his pants and left the room, slamming the door behind him. Miranda sank to her knees and put her head in her hands…She'd been at this place of despair before…

Every plant that had once taken up residence in the HCF greenhouse was now destroyed. Except the rose bush. As always, Wesker felt that somehow it was what connected him to Miranda. But tonight not even that was making a difference. He didn't know what was happening. He wasn't sure why everything was suddenly falling apart when it should have been coming together. 

Now was the time he needed to start training another crew for the next mission. He had a feeling that the Head office would be asking them to leave very shortly. But, all he could think about was Miranda and it was driving him crazy. 

He wanted to kill her. He wanted to get her out of his thoughts. He didn't have time for this sort of nonsense. What was happening now was not the way he operated and he needed to get it all into order. In the past he'd been able to balance his work and her and he'd done it quite efficiently. But now it seemed as if he needed her even more. He needed her, in a sense, to soothe the savage beast within him. 

Looking down at the blood on his hands, he sighed. He couldn't believe Miranda had killed someone. It just wasn't in her nature. Then again, what did he know about her nature? Lately, she'd been surprising him with every move she made. Either there was something going on that she wasn't telling him about or she was about to make a dramatic change. And yet…A rose by any other name would always be Miranda Harley. 

Whatever was going on, Wesker told himself that it was high time he stopped acting like a fool and get back to business. There were viruses to steal, people to kill, and not much time to do it in. 

He would wait a month, he told himself, and if nothing happened he would make it happen. 

Dawn found him sitting in his usual chair beside the bed watching Miranda as she slept. His mind had been racing for what had remained of the night and he was certain he'd come to a decision about how he was going to exterminate Chris Redfield. The other S.T.A.R.S. members could be dealt with accordingly, but Chris' death would be special, something memorable at the very least. 

"Wesker!" The angry voice boomed down the hallway. His head shot up and he listened for it again, just to make certain he wasn't hearing things. "Wesker!" The sound of his name a second time brought him to his feet. He checked to see if Miranda was still sleeping and made his way down the hallway to the entrance.

"What is it?" His growl was audible. Robert Jacks stood before covered in mud and soaking wet. His chest was heaving and he was snarling. Sherry Birkin landed on the floor unconscious at Wesker's feet. 

"I want answers and I want them _now_!" Jacks roared. 

"And what answers would those be?" Wesker crossed his arms over his chest, his expression unchanged. 

"Why the hell can't I die?" Jacks screamed. 

"Oh you can die." The captain answered simply. 

"What did you do to me?" The question came out more of a demand. Wesker sighed. There was a lot about Jacks he didn't like. For starters he was too much like Chris Redfield for his own good. When he didn't answer Jacks shot forward and punched him. Wesker stood looking at him, his eyes growing murderous. The blow had not affected him.

Grabbing Jacks by the wrist, Wesker twisted until the bones began to snap methodically. "Answer me." The younger man wheezed. 

"Tell me why you hid the remains of Birkin." Wesker asked undeterred. This time when Jacks was the one who didn't answer, he slammed him head first into the wall. 

"You owe me." Jacks growled. Wesker had let go of him and he stood up, shaking his head. 

"I owe you nothing. I think you're life is enough." Obviously Jacks didn't feel the same. He came at the Captain, his fists flying. Wesker had finally had enough. He seized the back of Jacks' neck and twisted hard. His scream of pain echoed down the hall. 

"Wesker." Miranda's gentle voice stopped him before he could do any more damage. He turned to her and frowned. She was moving toward him, the white cotton nightgown clinging to her curves suggestively. Immediately he dropped Jacks and moved back so that she could see Sherry. 

Instantly her eyes grew cloudy. "Sherry?" She ventured carefully. She looked at Wesker unsure whether it was really her daughter or not. When he nodded, she knelt beside her and brushed some of the hair from her face. "Oh Sherry." She said softly. 

Jacks was standing. He moved his head from side to side until the bones cracked back into place. Miranda stood and grabbed Jacks face, lightly planting a kiss on his lips. "Thank you so much." She whispered. Wesker grabbed her arm and jerked her back roughly. 

"Take care of Sherry." He ordered not taking his eyes off Jacks. "And you. There will be no more questions. Do as I tell you and be thankful for your life." His eyes said what he didn't need to. "Whatever it's worth to you." Jacks turned on heel and walked away, the animosity he was feeling was slowly beginning to deepen. 

Wesker said nothing as he picked up Sherry and carried her to Miranda's old room. Without either of them noticing this room had been abandoned months ago. He laid her gently on the bed and back away. Miranda moved forward like a mother hen and delicately began to make her comfortable. 

"Wesker." She said quietly. She didn't look at him. 

"I know." Sighing he turned to the door.

"Thank you." She turned him back to face her and kissed him with everything she had in her. She was trying to make him feel all the joy and happiness that she was feeling in that moment but she knew better. He was beyond all that now. He put his hands on her shoulders and looked at her solemnly. At last he nodded and disappeared down the hallway. 

Miranda Harley sat on the edge of the bed her tears coming easier than they ever had. She had her daughter back. The feeling was as wonderful as it was heartbreaking. As always, when she gained one, she lost the other.


	28. The Beginning of the End

The next two weeks passed with efficiency and ease. Riley Davis and Miranda Harley had begun research on the newest version of the Tyrant to pass the time and Robert Jacks had started training a new crew. Everything was falling into place nicely. Except Sherry. While she had settled into her new home readily, it wasn't hard to see the mistrust in her eyes. 

He sat across from her watching her behind shaded eyes. Sherry sat on the floor drawing on a piece of paper. Every once in a while she looked up to see if Miranda was still there. Her transition had been made easier by the fact that Sherry remembered Miranda.

"Auntie." She asked, finally giving up on the drawing. "Why doesn't he ever talk?" She was pointing at Wesker. "Doesn't he have anything to say?" 

Miranda knelt next to the daughter who only knew her as an aunt and smiled. "Ask him yourself." She said gently. 

Sherry nodded and climbed into Wesker's lap. He didn't move. He wasn't sure how to react. He hadn't spent much time around children. Honestly he'd never wanted to. "I know you." She whispered softly. "You were there with me in that trash room weren't you?" Gently she touched his face. "Thanks." His stomach did a somersault. Did she have any idea who he was? Behind them Miranda stood with a hand pressed to her mouth. Riley and Jacks acted as if they were ignoring the whole situation. "Are you blind?" Sherry asked looking through the lenses of his dark glasses. When she reached up to take them off Wesker grabbed her wrists and set her firmly on the floor. 

"Don't." He said sharply. Sherry looked at him as if he'd struck her then returned to her drawing as if nothing had ever happened. Miranda glared at him but said nothing. 

"Sir." The newest member of his surveillance team appeared in the doorway. 

"Aaron." Wesker nodded at him. He glanced over his shoulder at Miranda who was looking at the man worriedly. They all knew what a report from this man could mean. 

"We've found Claire Redfield trying infiltrate Umbrella's Paris facility." Aaron motioned to the door. "We've got her up on the monitors now." 

"Show me." Wesker's order was short and curt. 

In the main laboratory the largest monitor showed Claire Redfield being chased by two guards. "She's been in the facility for over an hour. They just recently found her." 

"We've been trying to figure out what she's looking for." Another member of the surveillance crew chimed in. 

"She's looking for her brother…_Chris_." Malice dripped off Wesker's words like honey. 

"She won't find him." Miranda said softly. "Not there." Something inside her was setting off warning bells. For some reason she suddenly felt like this was the beginning of the end. But whose end? 

Sherry stepped up next to her and watched as Claire stopped short of a set of floor to ceiling windows at the end of a hallway. A large helicopter was rising up in front of on the other side of them. "Run Claire!" She shouted. Wesker turned to her abruptly and grabbed her by the arm. 

"Wesker!" Miranda shouted. 

He looked up at her with a warning glance that was unmistakable. "You stay out of this." He waited until Miranda crossed her arms over her chest, her chin raised in her usual defiance. "You will never say the names Chris or Claire Redfield in my presence. Do you hear me?" He shook her roughly to make sure he got his point across. Sherry looked at him like she'd just been shot and nodded. When he let go she walked calmly from the room, slamming the door behind her. 

Miranda no longer cared if she made a scene. She stomped over to Wesker. "You had no right." She declared softly. "She's just a little girl. She doesn't understand why you hate them." 

"She's just a little girl…you're right. A little girl who should be dead." 

Miranda reached out to slap him but he caught by the wrist less than an inch before she came in contact with his face. "You press your luck, Ms. Harley." He growled, his eyes glittering. Riley stepped forward but Jacks put an arm out to stop him. "The only reason you're alive is because I need your research on the Tyrant. _You_ are of no other use to me." It was Miranda's turn to look as if she'd been shot. He pulled her closer to him; their lips were almost touching. "You know you're place, Miranda."   
Miranda felt as if she _had_ been shot. Jerking her wrist out of Wesker's grasp she turned her back on them all and walked out into the hallway, slamming the door behind her. 

Wesker followed her halfway to the door and thought better of it. He was right after all. If the truth were told Miranda had been nothing but a burden to him since he'd brought her here. And yet…

"You really _are _an asshole." Riley snorted. Pushing past him, he exited the room with a dramatic slamming door of his own. 

"Leave her." He said, meaning Claire. "What harm can a little girl do?" 

Out in the hallway, Miranda put her back against the wall and slid to the floor. She caught a sobbing breath before it had a chance to leave her throat. But she didn't feel like crying. She was so angry she wanted to hit something. Riley came out and sat beside her. She didn't say anything to him. There was nothing to be said. They'd both been in there. 

"So have we decided what we want to do for Christmas?" Leave to Riley to find a way to change the subject. She gave him a faint smile. 

"Just having Sherry back is enough for me." She told him. 

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about finding her. But Wesker…" Miranda put a hand up and sighed. 

"Let's not talk about him." 

"Okay…" Riley tapped his chin for a long moment. "Hmmm." He shrugged his shoulders. "I can't think of anything else to say." 

Miranda's smile grew wider. "Me either." 

"Auntie?" Sherry's timid voice came to her from the darkness. "What's that man doing all chained up?" 

"Sherry no!" The two of the shouted simultaneously. Both rose in one swift motion and ran to her. Too late Riley realized that Miranda didn't know about Marcus Baker. 

"Oh my god." She pulled Sherry behind her and stared in at the former Mr. Baker. "Is this?" 

Riley nodded sheepishly. "I didn't want you to find out about this. Not like this." 

"Wesker?" Miranda looked at the hideous zombie as it moaned pitifully. 

Riley nodded again. "We're not sure how it happened. Marcus was in the morgue and the next thing we know he's up walking around." Sherry sniffled. "The…ah…virus inside of Wesker is mutating…as far as we can tell." 

"What does that mean?" Miranda had a hold on Sherry's arm and was moving her back so they could close the door.

Riley shut the door, the sound echoing with eerie finality in the dark hallway. "It could account for his recent outbursts. It could mean that he's changing. You remember…like Birkin did…" Sherry sniffled again, this time louder. 

"Daddy." She whispered. Miranda wanted to correct to her and she almost did. But now was not the time to confuse her even more. Too much had happened to her. It wouldn't be fair to add this burden to her. 

"Sorry, kiddo." Riley said softly. He reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "Everything's going to be okay. You've got your aunt with you now." Miranda and Riley exchanged glances. 

"And my Uncle Wesker." Sherry said proudly. "If he wasn't such a grouch." Miranda and Riley cracked smiled and tried not to laugh, but it didn't work for long. The two laughed until their sides were hurting and Sherry was looking at them strangely. 

"Hey." Riley stopped finally, wiped his eyes, and took Sherry's hand. "I have something to show you." 

Sherry eyed him suspiciously. "Are you sure you're not a zombie?" When she had first seen Riley it had taken hours to convince her that he was not a zombie. Luckily, she hadn't said anything about the way he'd broken his nose. 

Riley smiled down at her. "You like animals?" 

Miranda watched them walk down the hall together and smiled. If it hadn't been for Wesker's hateful words in the main lab her life would feel somewhat complete in this moment. She sighed loudly and turned to leave when she bumped into something that was unmoving. She sucked in a breath and glared upwards. 

"Harley." His voice was silk wrapped steel. Miranda cringed. She had nothing to say to him. Leaning down to cover her lips with his, it was apparent that he had nothing to say either. 

She wanted to tell him no, to fight him off and tell him to stay away from her, but somehow her traitorous lips were working against her. Instead, she was kissing him back. Her arms were wrapping around his neck and coaxing the kisses to a deeper level. Her body pressed against him begging him for the sweet release that only he could offer her. Damn her entire self. None of it was listening to her mind. She was being betrayed. 

Wesker's arms circled her and all at once she felt herself being lifted into the air. She wanted to protest but even her tongue as it slid up the length of his neck, was being unfaithful to her. Gently he laid her on the bed they shared and his mouth covered hers again. "I need you, Miranda." He whispered against her lips, his warm breath teasing her. 

"I know." She whispered back, taking in a heaving breath. She kissed him again, her tongue brushed his and she sighed contentedly. 

Whatever she had wanted to say was lost somewhere in the darkness. Whatever it was could wait…


	29. Inevitable Finality

Riley Davis stood in the empty hallway of the HCF labs listening to the silence. Even the experiments were quiet. It was disconcerting in a way. All day long and for most of the night this place was alive with workers and soldiers. Things were being loaded into planes under Albert Wesker's direction, including bio-weapons and a rather dazzling display of weaponry. Scientists, including himself and Miranda Harley were hard at work trying to make sure everything was under control and ready.

He'd just finished the last of the Hunter control program. It was now around three in the morning and yet he couldn't sleep. He was awake as ever. He put his hands in his lab coat pockets and turned to the dark hallway.

A month had passed and everything was ready to make the trip to Rockfort island. The only one who didn't seem excited about it was Miranda. The dark haired woman avoided the subject at any cost. He was not the only one to notice it. Despite being extremely busy Wesker had been watching the dark haired woman. Riley wouldn't admit to it under threat of torture but he'd often caught their leader watching Miranda instead of working on the task at hand. Though it wasn't like it took him long to catch up.

Robert Jacks seemed to be avoiding everyone. Most of all Wesker. He noticed nothing. He brooded and loaded weapons, lifting machinery that shouldn't have been possible for a single man. That was another matter. Riley was beginning to suspect things, as he was sure Jacks had already . He wasn't sure what it was but Wesker's refusal to speak of things wasn't helping matters either. It was too much.

"You shouldn't be up so late." Wesker's voice came from the darkness, washing over the shorter man like a black hole. It was so easy to get sucked into the tone and pitch. It commanded obedience.

Riley turned toward the sound, fighting the urge to swallow deeply. How typical that would have been. Something like a cat and mouse scenario. "Sorry, Sir." He said softly, feigning a yawn. "I was finishing the Hunter project. Looks like they're all ready to go now. All I need is clearance to finish the mechanical work and the detectors will be ready as well."

The other man nodded, now the one to stare into the darkness of the hallway. "Alexia's virus will change things for all of us, Davis. In an extremely good way. I hope I can count on you." Wesker was standing almost stiffly, a strange smile on his face. Riley entertained the brief idea that his commander was going to do something crazy. Something that might very seal their fates.  
Another thing that bothered him was the way he had said he hoped he could be counted on. Counted on for what? A sliver of ice ran along his back and dug claws of warning into his thoughts. "Wesker, I'm worried about Miranda. I don't think she should come with us on this mission."

Wesker nodded thoughtfully. "She won't stand for it if she is told no." He said darkly. Behind his shades his snake like eyes were resting on the only open doorway. The room where Miranda was lying on the bed, sleeping peacefully, at least for the moment.

"Her nightmares are getting worse." Riley whispered, referring to a night nearly two weeks ago that she had woken almost the entire facility screaming Wesker's name. Riley and Jacks had been certain their leader was killing her. "Maybe you should tell her that Sherry isn't coming. She might very well stay behind then."

Wesker's laugh was cold. "I seriously doubt that. Besides, Harley was of some use to me the last time. What if I need her again? She is useless to me that far away."

There was more to it and they both knew it. Riley knew better than to point that out, however. Score one for him. The younger man didn't have to say anything else to know the conversation was over. Things had changed in the brief month since Sherry had been brought back to them. He didn't know what it was but everything was different. It was almost as if there small group was preparing for something big. An inevitable finality. Riley Davis hated finalities.

(666)

"Bingo!" Miranda Harley was doing it again. Uno meant nothing to her. Not even 'Go Fish' was safe from her infernal yelling of the word.

"Aunt M!" Sherry wailed, copying Riley Davis as she placed a hand on her forehead. "You don't yell that when you win go fish!"

Miranda pretended to be be very upset at this and tossed her remaining cards on the pile. "You're all a bunch of party poopers." She muttered, pushing to her feet.

Not far away from where the wayward group sat enjoying a moment or two away from work, Wesker leaned back in his chair. He was trying for a moment or two of silence but it wasn't working as well as he'd hoped. Sherry was a constant noise maker and despite the blood proof he'd finally received from Riley it was hard to believe she carried his genes. Not even Miranda made so much fuss.

Speaking of Harley...Her hair had gotten longer. It tumbled down her back in a gentle mass of curls. She'd let it dry in the air again. Before he could get lost in a place he had no time for he turned his thoughts toward the upcoming mission.

"Too bad Alexia didn't die in that lab accident." Miranda said as she sat on the edge of his desk, effectively shattering his thought pattern. It rather surprised him that she'd put it that way. She wasn't usually so passionate about death of any sort. However, the note of bitterness was there and he only wished he could ask her why. He knew very well that she wouldn't tell him. Neither of them divulged in their family histories though in Miss Harley's case this was a tragedy indeed. Miranda leaned over the map of Rockfort Island he kept on his desk, looking over it with a deep frown. "Mr. Spencer must not have been thinking straight when he built this one. It has no point to it. Not nearly enough puzzles and traps to throw people off."

"Indeed." Wesker said darkly. "However, Ms. Harley, Alexander Ashford designed the base."

Miranda nodded. "So this is where Alexia is hiding out at?"

"I believe so. There have been rumors of her being seen in the mansion on the hill. Though..." He paused, tapping his chin in thought.

"You don't find them entirely true." Miranda finished for him. She'd come to know some of Wesker's thoughts simply by watching his face. He rarely believed anything, which was why she'd begun to worry about the other things he was bound to wondering about.

The enigmatic man shook his head as a way to confirm her words. "Alfred Ashford, as I'm sure you remember, didn't have an elevator that went all the way to the top. I wouldn't put it past him to do anything. However, we still need to make sure."

"The planes are ready, Captain." Robert Jacks stopped a few feet from the desk, his eyes straight ahead. It was the most he'd said to the other man in months.

The tension was so thick it could have been cut with a knife though Wesker was the only one who didn't seem to notice. "Good. We'll leave first thing in the morning. You have my list of commandos and bio-weapons." He got to his feet, passing the other man without a word. "Riley. I want surveillance on Rockfort. Find out where they've been keeping the majority of the T-virus. We'll strike there first." Miranda opened her mouth to suggest that Sherry go with them. That was as far as she got. Wesker's large fingers rested over her lips and he shook his head. He didn't even have to speak. She also knew better than to do so. "Children should be seen. Never heard or dragged halfway around the world to get under foot."

"Hey!" Sherry protested, not nearly as shy as she'd used to be either. "I would not get underfoot and I am not a child! I helped..." Three sets of eyes shot toward the young blond as she spoke, Miranda frantically shaking her head. All that needed to be done was to whisper a Redfield name and Wesker's lost his temper. Wisely Sherry closed her mouth and went back to shuffling cards. Riley bent to help her, pretending not to see that Wesker was still glowering at them.

"She's a child." Miranda said gently. "She just doesn't want to be left alone. Surely you can see that."

"That's exactly why she's not going." Wesker said firmly. "Pack your things, Ms. Harley and make it quick. We're leaving two hours before dawn."

(666)

Robert Jacks had been avoiding everyone for good reason. He'd been spending most of his time searching through paperwork in the basement rooms, hoping to find something that would reveal his past. Surely Wesker would have kept some information if he'd used a virus. He'd have to. But then again, this wasn't exactly Umbrella. He'd even been combing through the records he and Riley had stolen whenever the compound was quiet. He'd found nothing. It was as if he didn't even exist. And lately he was beginning to wonder if it weren't true.

However, a trip to Rockfort Island would change things. Davis had informed him that Umbrella sent a good deal of their backup records to that area. While the others searched for Alexia, he'd have a different goal in mind. After all, what Wesker didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

(666)

That night the group, excluding Miranda and Sherry, finished their preparations for attacking Rockfort Island. While Wesker mapped the exact coordinates, Riley and Jacks did a little planning of their own.

After the Raccoon city incident sneaking around and heading off on ones own wouldn't be so easy. Especially since the Captain had insisted they'd all wear tracking devices. He'd left no one out, not even Miranda. They could only hope for a proper distraction and the bet that Alexia wasn't going to be so easy to find.


End file.
